Pets can’t give you Covid-19

There is currently no evidence that pets can be a source of infection with Covid-19, nor that they can contract it, or infect humans.

This was confirmed by local veterinarian Dr Martino Truter of the George Animal Hospital, reports George Herald.

Although dogs and cats can contract coronaviruses, these are not the same viruses associated with this outbreak. The strains dogs and cats typically get do not cause respiratory problems.

“Canine coronavirus disease (CCoV) is a highly infectious intestinal infection in dogs, especially puppies,” said Truter.

“It’s usually short-lived but may cause considerable abdominal discomfort for a few days in infected dogs. CCoV is not the same virus as SARS-CoV-2 that causes the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). CCoV does not affect people.”

This comes after a puppy was surrendered to Oudtshoorn Dogs in Need (Odin) by her owners last week, as they feared that she might give them Covid-19.

“We have recently received a couple of messages from people wanting to know whether their pets can give them the coronavirus or people wanting to know how they can protect their pets against contracting it,” said Odin’s chairperson, Colleen Smith.

“Pet owners can rest assured that there is currently absolutely no evidence that people can get Covid-19 from their pets or their pets can get it from them.”

Plenty of dogs, puppies, cats and kittens are available for adoption at Odin, including the above-mentioned puppy, Casey.

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