According to a study, the coronavirus can probably be transmitted from cats to humans. in the magazine Emerging Infectious Diseases Scientists describe a case in Thailand where a veterinarian became infected with Covid-19 in August 2021. She treated a cat that had tested positive when the animal sneezed at her.
The cat probably got the virus from its two owners, write a group of researchers led by Sarunyou Chusri of the university in the southern Thai city of Songkhla. Research showed that the cat, its owners and the vet carried the same virus variant, which was not very common at the time.
Scientists emphasize in an article by The New York Times that the virus is transmitted from humans to cats significantly more often than in the opposite direction.
This example underscores the need to isolate pets in the event of infection, said infectious disease specialist Scott Weese of the Canadian University of Guelph: “I think it’s important for us to recognize that the virus can still be exchanged between species. “