Coronavirus (COVID-19)
SARS-CoV-2 and Companion Pets Updates July 27, 2020
For information on non-toxic disinfectants safe for people and pets click or tap here.
Don’t use products containing phenols. These chemicals are toxic to animals, particularly cats.
SARS-CoV-2 Mutations, and Hand Soaps and Sanitizers
Video April 17, 2020
What we know about COVID-19 in other species
“Out of an abundance of caution and until more is known about this virus, if you are ill with COVID-19 you should restrict contact with pets and other animals, just as you would restrict your contact with other people. When possible, have another member of your household or business take care of feeding and otherwise caring for any animals, including pets. If you have a service animal or you must care for your animals, including pets, wear a cloth facemask; don’t pet, don’t share food, kiss, or hug them; and wash your hands before and after any contact with your pet or service animal. You should not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, or bedding with other people or pets in your home.”
“While we are recommending these as good practices, it is important to remember that there is currently no reason at this time to think that domestic animals, including pets, in the United States might be a source of infection with SARS-CoV-2. Accordingly, there is no reason to remove pets from homes where COVID-19 has been identified in members of the household, unless there is risk that the pet itself is not able to be cared for appropriately. In this emergency, pets and people each need the support of the other and veterinarians are there to support the good health of both.”
What we know about COVID-19 in other species
Can I get COVID-19 from my pets or other animals? (CDC)
“At this time, there is no evidence that companion animals, including pets, can spread COVID-19 to people or that they might be a source of infection in the United States. To date, CDC has not received any reports of pets becoming sick with COVID-19 in the United States.
Pets have other types of coronaviruses that can make them sick, like canine and feline coronaviruses. These other coronaviruses cannot infect people and are not related to the current COVID-19 outbreak.
However, since animals can spread other diseases to people, it’s always a good idea to practice healthy habits around pets and other animals, such as washing your hands and maintaining good hygiene.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html#COVID-19-and-Animals
“IDEXX announced on March 13 that it had evaluated thousands of canine and feline specimens during validation of its new veterinary test system for the COVID-19 virus and had obtained no positive results. The specimens used for test development and validation were obtained from specimens submitted to IDEXX Reference Laboratories for PCR testing.” https://www.idexx.com/en/about-idexx/news/no-covid-19-cases-pets/
COVID-19 updates from Dr. Scott Weese DVM. Dr. Weese is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph, and Public Health and Zoonotic Disease microbiologist for the University’s Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses.
masks
New England Journal of Medicine
Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era
“We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.”
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372
“We did state in the article that “wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection,” but as the rest of the paragraph makes clear, we intended this statement to apply to passing encounters in public spaces, not sustained interactions within closed environments. A growing body of research shows that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission is strongly correlated with the duration and intensity of contact: the risk of transmission among household members can be as high as 40%, whereas the risk of transmission from less intense and less sustained encounters is below 5%.5-7 This finding is also borne out by recent research associating mask wearing with less transmission of SARS-CoV-2, particularly in closed settings.8 We therefore strongly support the calls of public health agencies for all people to wear masks when circumstances compel them to be within 6 ft of others for sustained periods.”
CDC on Homemade Cloth Face Coverings
Sew and No Sew Instructions
What is PCR?
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing identifies the presence of a pathogen’s DNA or RNA in a patient specimen. PCR is highly sensitive and specific testing that can confirm the actual presence of an organism.
PCR results facilitate early detection of disease in sick animals:
Often positive in infected animals before antibody can be detected
https://www.idexx.com/en/veterinary/reference-laboratories/idexx-realpcr-tests/
ELISA Tests (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay)
Identifies antibodies (coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) ) in a patient’s bloodstream to determine whether that person previously had COVID-19. This test looks for antibodies after you had an infection.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heres-how-coronavirus-tests-work-and-who-offers-them/
“there is currently no evidence that companion pets or other domestic animals can spread SARS-CoV-2 to humans or other animals.”
“Conversationally, we have been starting to say that people are testing positive for COVID-19. This is misleading. The currently available diagnostic tests detect the presence of the live virus, SARS-CoV-2, using swabs from either the nose or the throat.”
“Bear in mind, the tests do not test for the actual disease, COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 virus can cause – or develop into – COVID-19 disease in some people. Thus, it is incorrect to state that people are walking around who don’t know they have the disease. The correct statement is that these healthy people are carriers of – or infected with – the virus, and can pass it on to others, but do not develop the disease or symptoms themselves. Other people, however, may develop the COVID-19 disease if infected with the virus.”
The Virus Causing COVID-19 in Humans and the Situation with Pets
7 Best COVID-19 Resources (Seven evidence-based Resources)
Dr. Dodds pdf March 2020
Cleaning & Disinfecting
COVID-19 and Companion Pets By W. Jean Dodds, DVM on March 15, 2020
COVID-19 and Your Pet — What You Need to Know Analysis by Dr. Karen Shaw Becker
COVID-19 Updates: Testing Companion Pets & Pet Fur
By W. Jean Dodds, DVM on March 23, 2020
Safe Vet Care During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Understanding COVID-19: Epidemiology in a time of uncertainty by Dr. Jim Dobbins
This is a lecture by Dr. Jim Dobbins who is an infectious disease epidemiologist who has worked for both the CDC and the WHO and who worked on several previous pandemics. He gave this lecture on March 11th, here at the University of IL. Some of the information about other countries, including here in the US, has changed, but the facts that he provides about SARS-2 (the virus that causes covid-19) need to be heard by everyone.
Dr. Karen Becker & Rodney Habib interview Dr. Sarah Caddy, veterinarian and one of the UK’s🇬🇧 top infectious disease experts, to give you the latest updates on coronavirus and pets, and to help learn about what we can all do in regards to our pets🐾 to fight the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
(Dr Sarah Caddy MA VetMB PhD DACVM MRCVS - A Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellow at the MRC-Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease.
https://www.facebook.com/PlanetPaws.ca/videos/3210274522319063/
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