After more than half of the world’s population, particularly in high- and middle-income countries and still in great debt to an entire continent, Africa, the race to protect the animals begins. Both in the Russian Federation as in the U.S the domestic pets and the animals that live in zoos they began to receive immunizing substances against Covid-19.
The initiative has two objectives: to prevent possible infections from becoming worrisome disease conditions; Y mitigate the risk of mutations at SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the virus responsible for the pandemic disease, in the animal organism.
Why? Because every time a virus passes from one species to another, the probability of this happening is significant and one of these transformations can create a version capable of infecting humans with high levels of transmissibility and lethality. If we talk about mutations, here we are currently with a new variant, Omicron, whose transmission capacity is at least twice that of Delta, dominant on the planet.
Do not forget that at least 75% of emerging infectious diseases are of animal origin, including Covid-19. “Today, more than ever, we can see the important connection between animal health and human health,” highlighted the World Health Organization (WHO) on its position on the matter. Until now, what was known about the coronavirus in animals is that the disease would not manifest itself in them as aggressively as in humans.
A study conducted in Brazil by the Laboratory for Clinical Research in Acute Febrile Diseases of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases Evandro Chagas (INI / Fiocruz) confirmed this perception, recorded in similar studies carried out around the world.
Animal studies
The investigator Guilherme Calvet analyzed, between March and October of last year, 21 patients diagnosed with Covid-19 and their 39 pets, of which 29 were dogs and ten were cats. “The results show that, of 21 different households, almost half had one or more pets positive for SARS-CoV-2,” he said. Nine dogs (31%) and four cats (40%) were infected or exposed to the virus. The animals obtained positive RT-PCR results 11 to 51 days after the appearance of the first symptoms of their guardians. The literature records that viral load in animals is low and that the signs that manifest are mild, mainly run down, runny nose and cough.
Other research published in November, however, suggests that there may be exceptions. A team of British and French scientists identified, for the first time, a dog and two cats infected by the alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2, which was first described in the United Kingdom. Pets developed myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) three to six weeks after their guardians tested positive for the disease.
Another point is that so far there is no evidence that animals transmit the virus to their human companions. What happens is the opposite, it is people who infect animals. “Cats are more susceptible to infections than dogs. Under controlled laboratory conditions, it has been found that cats can transmit the virus to their fellow species. However, the transmission of the new coronavirus from dogs to other dogs or cats has not been demonstrated ”, says Guilherme Calvet.
Concern
Despite the low severity of the clinical manifestations of Covid-19 in animals, the need for a vaccine indicated for them became evident. In April, Russia registered the first immunizer, manufactured by the Russian Federal Center for Animal Health. Carnivac-CoV It is a vaccine developed for dogs, cats, minks and foxes. In the country, the animal fur market is an important niche and served as a warning in the case of the 17 million minks slaughtered in Denmark last year, by strains of the virus that have mutated and infected some people.
In the U.S, since July, more than 100 species of mammals housed in zoos, sanctuaries and academic institutions they began to receive an experimental vaccine manufactured by Zoetis, a company focused on animal health. Its creation took place at the request of the San diego zoo.
In January, keepers came across infected gorillas. The elderly animals presented mild cough, runny nose and lethargy. With the permission of the United States Department of Agriculture, the first to be immunized were tigers, black bears, cougars, ferrets, and brown bears. As a reward for the injection, they received spurts of goat’s milk, marshmallows and ice cream.
The vaccine is experimental and, according to information from the manufacturer, 26,000 doses are being donated to organizations in fourteen countries.
* (With information from Veja)
