OMICRON SUSCEPTIBILITY TO CATS AND DOGS              

Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.

Context

• Several video clips have emerged where pets infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus are being killed in China.

Are cats and dogs susceptible to Omicron?

• A small study carried out in Spain has found that dogs and cats do not easily get infected by the Omicron variant.
• And there is hardly any chance that the virus will spread from dogs and cats to humans.
• Also, the researchers were not able to isolate the Omicron variant virus for any of the pets that tested positive, which is a strong indication of the low viral load.
• The low susceptibility of dogs and cats to the Omicron variant is in contrast to their susceptibility to the Alpha and Delta variants.

In a nutshell, the risk of pets/animals spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be low. At this time, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading SARS-CoV-2- CDC.

Read: https://www.iasgyan.in/blogs/one-health-concept