An image from the Pet Expo trade show held in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, in May 2022. In this Southeast Asian country, researchers have now presented a case report of a suspected transmission of the coronavirus from a domestic cat to a veterinarian Photo: picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com | Peerapon Boonyakiat
From BZ/dpa
According to a study, the corona virus can probably be transmitted from cats to humans. In the journal “Emerging Infectious Diseases”, scientists describe a case in Thailand in which a veterinarian was infected with the virus in August 2021.
She had treated and sneezed on a cat that had tested positive in the southern Thai city of Songkhla.
The animal probably got the virus from its two owners, writes the group led by Sarunyou Chusri from the Prince of Songkla University in Songkhla. Genome sequencing showed that the viruses found in the cat, the veterinarian and the owners were very closely related.
However, in a report by the New York Times, scientists emphasize that the virus is transmitted significantly more frequently from humans to cats than in the opposite direction. However, the case underscores the need to isolate household animals in the event of an infection, said infectious disease specialist Scott Weese from the Canadian University of Guelph: “I think it’s important for us to recognize that the virus is still between species can change.”
