Can Your Pet Dog Or Cat Contract Or Spread Coronavirus? Here's All You Need To Know

Mind-boggling myths surrounding the rapidly spreading coronavirus has added to the mounting stress about the pandemic. One among them is the misplaced fear of furry friends catching the virus. But there's good news on this front and there's no need to fret.

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For people who own cats and dogs, fear is understandable, but now, as confirmed by the World Health Organization, there's no scientific evidence about companion animals such as dogs or cats contracting the infection.

When the coronavirus peaked in China a month ago, local officials of a village in Zhejiang province asked all residents to quarantine animals and slaughtered all stray dogs on the street. Another village in China made a similar rule at the end of January to kill animals to contain the spread of the virus.

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A similar case was reported in Karnataka after coronavirus fear gripped the country, a farmer forcefully buried chickens amid fears. But these assumptions hold no water, as experts have warned that there's little evidence about the virus spreading from animals to humans.

According to reports, COVID-19 transmits primarily through droplets of coughing, sneezing, saliva, or discharge from the nose. In the case of animals they have different cell receptors than humans and that can prevent them from catching any kind of infection.

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¡°Some animals have closely related structures, but if people are thinking about whether dogs or cats could transmit the virus, I think it is very highly unlikely," the Express UK quoted Dr Grace Roberts, a virologist at Queen¡¯s University Belfast, as saying.

¡°Viruses would have to make so many mutations to make that jump. It just becomes so unlikely that would happen," says Dr Roberts.

If your family is healthy, and your pets are at home and don't often come into contact with other animals, they're unlikely to be at risk, according to Oregon Veterinary Medical Association.