Pets can be carriers of the coronavirus, in particular cats and dogs. Such a statement on Wednesday, July 29, was made by the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and Education Gennady Onishchenko.
“In nature, the natural reservoir of the coronavirus is small rodents, bats, snakes, domestic dogs and cats can also carry the coronavirus,” Interfax quoted him as saying.
At the same time, Onishchenko noted that he did not urge owners to abandon their pets. Compliance with hygiene measures, he said, will help avoid infection.
Earlier in the day, the MP said that the coronavirus cannot be considered more contagious than the flu. He noted that “hundreds of millions” fall ill with influenza, while “only 16 million” patients with COVID-19 have been identified in the world.
On July 7, research by scientists from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute was published, which found that pigs and chickens were immune to a new type of coronavirus. As the experts found out, bats and ferrets were the most susceptible to SARS-COV-2.
In June, the Rosselkhoznadzor told what symptoms are manifested in pets when infected with coronavirus. For example, clinical signs of acute respiratory infection have been reported in cats and minks.
The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, began at the end of December last year. The Chinese city of Wuhan became the hotbed of infection.
According to the international statistical bureau Worldometer, more than 16.9 million cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in the world today, more than 664 thousand people have died, and 10,486,952 patients have recovered.