A canine dog mask/Amazon.com
Warning: Man’s best friend might now be man’s (and woman’s) newest worry.
The evidence is growing that it’s not just mink that can spread SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes potentially deadly COVID-19. Dog and cats and other animals are now being identified as carriers.
The risk of mink is already well documented. Two men working at mink farms in the Netherlands were revealed to have caught COVID-19 from those animals back in May. The Dutch parliament later decided to ban mink farming as dangerous, the NL Times reported.
Almost 600,000 mink were reported to have been gassed to death to eradicate SARS-CoV-2 at fur farms. The kill, which included 480,000 baby mink, was ordered after not only the humans but “several cats had been infected,” the Dutch News reported.
The mink appear now to mark only the beginning of a new SARS-CoV-2 crisis.
Killer cats?
The University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, has completed a study for presentation next week to the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases conference on coronavirus disease, revealing it has found SARS-CoV-2 in “nose, throat, and rectal swabs from 17 cats, 18 dogs, and 1 ferret owned by people diagnosed as having COVID-19 or reporting symptoms consistent with the coronavirus in the previous two weeks,” CIDRAP revealed.
Whether this is worse news for people or their pets is unclear.
Guelph veterinarian Dorothee Bienzle warned that those who catch COVID-19 could infect their pets. Many of the animals in the Guelph study displayed respiratory systems of the illness.
“There is sufficient evidence from multiple studies, including ours, to recommend that SARS-CoV-2 infected persons should isolate from people and animals,” she said.
The damage the virus can do to pets is unclear. Chinese researchers who reported finding infected cats there said all were asymptomatic, but did have lung abnormalities.
As of this writing, there have been no reports of COVID-19 in dogs or cats in Alaska or in the state’s mink, which are wild not farmed. But here as elsewhere, the evidence would indicate that people who do come down with the disease could spread it to the companion animals.
Whether the situation gets worse or better for humans and pets as the season changes is a subject of considerable speculation. USA Today is warning of “twindemic” of both COVID-19 and the flu. Federal authorities are warning Americans to “hunker down,” given the best way to avoid infectious diseases is to stay away from everyone.
Others are more optimistic. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is at work on a COVID-19 mitigation plan to ensure the famous dog race goes off in March.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now considers the risk of catching COVID-19 from a pet is “low,” but admits a lot remains to be learned about the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
- Wash your hands after handling animals, their food, waste, or supplies.
- Practice good pet hygiene and clean up after pets properly.
- Talk to your veterinarian if you have questions about your pet’s health.
- Be aware that children 5 years of age and younger, people with weakened immune systems, and older adults are more likely to get sick from germs some animals can carry.
And, of course, for pets as for people, the best way to avoid catching COVID-19 is to keep them a safe distance away from other people or animals that might carry the disease, meaning there might now be a very good reason for use of the leash.
Categories: News
I remember even more recently when republicans decided Iraq was a threat to the world, you know WMD’s n such.And then of course when that didn’t stick to the wall ,it was regime change, and then after that it was we were going to bring democracy to the M.E.
DAMN what a party its been,especially after we built a sweet $750 million embassy.You know what they say in the world of real estate:location,location,location.
Hey how’s it swinging with the House of Saud,and Assad?Yemen or The Horn of Africa anybody?
Dave,
With all due respect, it was not only the Republicans who cooked the books on the latest invasion in Iraq.
Actually only 1 lone Democrat in ALL of congress voted against the “war” in the middle east and she received death threats for speaking out against it.
Guys like Biden have been an architect for the never ending war and has never voted against budget increases for the Pentagon.
Look at the drone war that amplified under Obama and Biden in North Africa and Middle East.
But…the big but…is why did we invade Iraq when almost all of the “terrorists” on 9/11 were Saudi Arabian Nationals?
This part of the equation still perplexes me to this day and got very little scrutiny from journalists.
Here we are 20 years later and there is no plan on ever getting our military home, not even “progressives” like AOC are willing to go against the military industrial complex.
Jillian Assange tried to show us the truth with Manning’s video and look what they are doing to him.
Tyranny is running wild on the planet these days.
S.S,
True points, but it was under a Repub admin,both houses of congress and the exec were under republican control.And the Dem vote wasn’t that close re https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_for_Use_of_Military_Force_Against_Iraq_Resolution_of_2002.
I remember it because as a born republican the lead up made me barf nearly all things republican (in party).Not that Im all fuzzy with the left, but democracy functions best when the center (right/left) governs.
The wild swings we see are like a gyro losing its normal rotation.Google up Ray Dalio’s latest comments on democracy and such if your interested.We’ve been here before.My perspective on life is analogous to a boat on the ocean at night.Sometimes your going up, sometimes your going down.
Its the troughs and peaks that you don’t really feel till there’s a tipping point.And ughm Id say we’re there.
Throw in a pinch of Covid and dash of fires/expanding weather norms,we indeed live in interesting times.
We’ll get through this, just wish it was more mundane 😀
Went for a great short hike up a very steep gully with ridgeline target.Great blueberries, scared the sh*t out of myself, as I seem to like to do.
Dave, are you saying Iraq/Sadam didn’t have WMD and killed over a 100,000 Kurds using them? Just like Saddam, the usual Democrats were against America then as well. The problem is you can rewrite history, but you cannot erase it.
Here are a few berries to chew on from the left leaning Snopes no less. Lil balance goes a long way.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/words-of-mass-destruction/
Dave we aren’t a “Democracy”. Since Democrats are generally authoritarian, they always push that bogus narrative. You should have stayed Republican.
The insanity by the media will not end until the CDC has pumped millions of Americans with a vaccine that has not been thoroughly tested and holds no liability for manufactures?
Medical fascism has arrived in the U.S…family camps outside of hospitals while not allowed in.
We no longer get to decide our own risks or who to freely associate with or who can visit patients.
Meanwhile why this “fear porn” is pushed by journalists across the country, a real journalist like Jullian Assange sits in solitary at a London prison awaiting extradition to the United States.
Where are the media personalities speaking of the unlawful kangaroo trial of Jullian Assange?
The only guy talking about it is Joe Rogan and he still considers himself a comedian?
I remember back innthe 80’s when Democrats closed the asylum and turned the insane lose on society. Ah the fruits of their labor. Not one to poke fun at those who are insane, but I can’t help chuckling at those insane masses. RIDICULOUS!!!!