Government Infects Cats With COVID-19
scientists are infecting cats with COVID-19 to see how long it takes the cats to die
https://www.coronavirusoutbreakmap.com/listings/coronavirus-infected-cat/
Scientists who led the research say it shows the need for more research into whether coronavirus can spread from people to cats to people again.
Cats can spread coronavirus to other cats without any cats ever having symptoms, a lab experiment suggests.
Anyone concerned about that risk should use “common sense hygiene,” said virus expert Peter Halfmann. Don’t kiss your pets and keep surfaces clean to cut the chances of picking up any virus an animal might shed, he said.
He and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine led the lab experiment and published results Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Federal grants paid for the work.
Researchers took coronavirus from a human patient and infected three cats with it. Each cat then was housed with another cat that was free of infection.
“There was no sneezing, no coughing, they never had a high body temperature or lost any weight,” Halfmann said. “If a pet owner looked at them … they wouldn’t have noticed anything.”
