Humans can share many things with dogs, including cuddles and quality times. It seems that coronavirus infections may be added to the list of shared experiences.
Experts claim they have found the first case of coronavirus in the UK. It was apparently contracted by a pet dog from owners who had previously tested positive for Covid. After testing on November 3, the canine was found to have contracted coronavirus.
This is not the first instance of pets being tested positive for coronavirus. A laboratory in the same city detected coronavirus last year in a cat, and research from the Netherlands suggests that the virus may be common in pets owned by people with Covid.
Experts suggest that owners of Covid should not allow their pets to get the virus. This is to avoid the possibility that the virus could spread to other animals.
Dr Christine Middlemiss, the UK's chief veterinary official, stated that coronavirus had been confirmed in a pet-dog in the UK after tests at the Animal and Plant Health Agency laboratory in Weybridge (Surrey).
She said that the infected dog was currently being treated for an unrelated condition and was now fully recovered.
Owners need not worry too much, however.
"Dogs are very unlikely to become infected. They will often only experience mild symptoms and then recover within days. Middlemiss said that there is no evidence to support the idea that pets transmit the virus directly to humans. "We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will update our guidance for pet owners if it changes."
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no risk of Covid being caught from a pet.
It states that "Based on all available information, the risk of animals spreading Covid-19 is low."
It appears that transmission can sometimes go the other direction, at least occasionally.
Dr Katherine Russell, an epidemiologist at UK Health Security Agency, stated that although Covid-19 is primarily spread from person-to-person, it can also spread to animals in certain situations.
She stated that "in accordance with general public health guidance you should wash your hands frequently, including before and afterwards contact with animals."
Professor Rowland Kao from the University of Edinburgh said that there were no signs that coronavirus infections in dogs are a concern.
He stated that dogs must be infected to transmit the virus. "If dogs were infected frequently, we would probably have seen it by now. It's unlikely that this is an issue, given the amount of infection and the number of people who live at home with their pets, but it doesn't seem to be that common.
Kao stated that dogs must spread the virus within themselves to become a reservoir. This could be done in kennels or among dogs. Kao acknowledged that dogs may not have returned to large numbers. He said, "If they have, but we haven't seen any infection transmission, it would again seem to make it unlikely."
Coronavirus has not been confined to dogs and cats. Kao said that a large study recently showed that coronavirus is likely to be circulated among white-tailed deer in the US.
Mass cullings were carried out in Denmark and Denmark after outbreaks of coronavirus in mink farms. In February, the World Health Organization warned that there was a high chance of spreading the virus from fur farming to humans.
According to the CDC, mink transmission from human to human has been reported in the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, and other countries. They also mention that mink could spread the virus to mink farmers.
The agency points out that there is currently no evidence that mink played a significant part in spreading Sars-CoV-2 among people.
