New York cats become first US pets to contract coronavirus
23 April, 2020
Two cats in New York have grown to be the first house animals in the United States to check positive for the brand new coronavirus, officials said Wednesday.
The cats are in separate areas of NY state, America's COVID-19 epicenter, the Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a joint statement.
"Both had mild respiratory illness and are expected to help to make a complete recovery," they said.
The owner of one of the cats had earlier tested positive for the virus before their feline pet started showing symptoms, according to the officials.
The other cat lives in children where no members were confirmed to be ill with COVID-19.
"The virus may have been transmitted to this cat by mildly ill or asymptomatic family members or through contact with an infected person outside its home," said the statement.
Another cat in the same house hasn't shown signs of having the illness, the news release added.
The departments stressed that while public health officials are still studying COVID-19's effect on animals "there is absolutely no evidence that pets play a role in spreading the virus in the United States."
Health officials recommend that dogs and cats socially isolate while they find out more about how precisely the virus infects domestic pets.
The CDC advises that cats be kept indoors when possible to avoid them getting together with other animals or human beings.
It says that pet dogs should be continued a leash while outside and should avoid busy areas such as dog parks.
The CDC also advises persons who may have COVID-19 to avoid physical contact with their pet.
Before this month, a tiger at New York's Bronx Zoo was confirmed to have already been infected by a caretaker who was simply asymptomatic at that time.
In late March a family pet cat was found out infected with the novel coronavirus in Belgium, following similar situations in Hong Kong where two dogs tested positive.
They were thought to have contracted the virus from the persons they live with.
A lot more than 15,000 people have already been killed by COVID-19 in New York state.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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