Your pet cat can catch COVID-19: Study opens new debate on transmission of virus

• Study reveals that cats and dogs cannot pass the virus to humans, even if they can test positive for low levels if they catch it from their owners.
• So far the virus which emerged in China late last year, killed more than 88,000 people around the world.

A new study claims that cats can become infected with new coronavirus, but dogs appear unharmed, opening new debate of transmission of virus between humans and pets.   

The Hong Kong based study revealed that ferrets can also become the victim of the deadly bug (SARS-CoV-2 scientific name for COVID-19).

However, they say that the cats and dogs cannot pass the virus to humans, even if they can test positive for low levels if they catch it from their owners.

The study was aimed at identifying which animals are vulnerable to the virus so they can be used to test experimental vaccines to fight the global pandemic.

So far the virus which emerged in China late last year, killed more than 88,000 people around the world.

The disease is believed to have spread from bats to humans. There have been a handful of reported infections in cats and dogs, but no strong evidence that pets can be carriers.

A tiger in New York’s Bronx Zoo in New York City developed a dry cough and loss of appetite after contact with an infected zookeeper who tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday.

A study conducted in China during January in February also reported that cats and ferrets highly susceptible to the virus.

They also found cats can infect each other via respiratory droplets. Infected cats had virus in the mouth, nose and small intestine. Kittens exposed to the virus showed significant lesions in their lungs, nose and throat.

In ferrets, the virus was found in the upper respiratory tract but did not cause severe disease.

Antibody tests showed dogs were less likely to catch the virus, while inoculated pigs, chickens, and ducks were not found to have any strain of the virus.

The WHO said on Wednesday it is working with its partners to look more closely at the role of pets in the health crisis.

Based on the evidence so far, WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told a news conference: "We don't believe that they are playing a role in transmission but we think that they may be able to be infected from an infected person."