Two Cats Got Covid From Owners, Spurring Call For Vigilance
- Researchers in Scotland report first SARS-CoV-2 in U.K. cats
- Human-to-animal transmission may be underestimated, study says
A Ragdoll domestic cat.
Photographer: Vyacheslav Oselekko/AFP via Getty Images
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The first reported finding of human-to-cat coronavirus transmission in the U.K. has prompted a call from scientists to monitor the infection in pets.
There’s no evidence that domestic cats are playing a role in spreading the pandemic virus, researchers at the University of Glasgow said Wednesday in a study released ahead of peer review and publication. The two infected felines described in the paper developed “mild or severe respiratory disease,” with one four-month-old female Ragdoll kitten having to be put down, they said.