A newly published study looking at cats in Wuhan, where the COVID-19 pandemic began, shows more cats might be contracting the virus than first anticipated.
Researchers from Huazhong Agricultural University, took blood samples from 102 cats between January and March 2020. Nasal and anal swabs were also collected.
Reporting their findings in peer-reviewed journal Emerging Microbes & Infections, they show COVID-19 antibodies present in 15 of the blood samples taken from the cats. Of these, 11 cats had neutralizing antibodies — proteins that bind so successfully to a virus they block the infection.
None of the cats tested positive for coronavirus or showed symptoms and according to the results of return visits, none of these cats have died.
The three cats with the highest levels of antibodies were all owned by patients who had been diagnosed with coronavirus, whilst there were also signs of cats being infected with the virus by other cats from those that were abandoned or based in the pet hospitals.
Commenting on the findings, there is currently no evidence for cat-to-human transmission, precautions, however should be taken into account
the infection in stray cats could not be fully understood, it is reasonable to speculate that these infections are probably due to the contact with SARS-CoV-2 polluted environment, or COVID-19 patients who fed the cats.
Therefore measures should be considered to maintain a suitable distance between COVID-19 patients and companion animals such as cats and dogs, and hygiene and quarantine measures should also be established for those animals.
Cats have a great potential as an animal for assessing the characteristic of antibody against SARS-CoV-2 in humans.
more research is needed to establish the route of Covid-19 from humans to cats.
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