Pets cause a second wave COVID-19, scientists warn. In their assumptions, animals – not only domestic cats and dogs but also farm animals and living on the streets of cities fauna – may become “reservoirs” of the virus even after it is destroyed in humans. Therefore, experts believe that it is necessary to conduct research to find out what animals can be infected and transmit the coronavirus.
According to the scientists, who published an article in the medical journal Lancet, animals can become “reservoirs” of coronavirus and lead to the second outbreak, even if it will be eliminated among the people.
it tells the Daily Mail, researchers from University College London saying that there must be global efforts to monitor possible outbreak of the virus SARS-CoV-2 in different animal populations around the world.
Scientists say that if the coronavirus will spread among the animals that live alongside humans (Pets or livestock), it can lead to a new outbreak.
According to them, it is necessary to conduct additional research which animals susceptible to the virus, calling COVID-19 in the hope to stop its spread.
One of the authors of the article to a medical journal Professor Joan Santini claims that there is evidence that some animals can catch the virus from humans and can pass it back to the people.
“We just don’t know how risky this is, since this area of research has not been a priority, writes the biologist in the article. – We need to develop a strategy of surveillance to avoid sudden outbreaks of animal disease that could pose a threat not only to animal health but also the health of the people.”
Studies show that COVID-19 has been added to the population of bats in China, then he moved to the other animals, and then was transmitted to humans in the past year.
“Viral transmission in animal populations can become irreversible if not stopped, and could threaten the success of public health measures, if people continue to get infected with a virus from an infected population of animals,” – says Professor Joan Santini.
the Authors write that the huge scale of the pandemic increases the probability that a considerable number of animals will become a “reservoir” of the virus. And it can be more probable than in the case of past epidemics because of the scale of infection among the population.
Joan Santini and her co-author Professor Sarah Edwards considered these case studies, experiments testing infection on small groups of animals as well as laboratory and modelling studies describing probable mechanisms of contamination.
Modeling and laboratory studies indicate that SARS-CoV-2 can theoretically be transmitted to many animals.
This is based on the results that the protein spike of the virus attaches to cells-owners, using protein that is found in many different types.
the Researchers suggest that as soon as scientists determine what animals could be infected, they needed to find out whether they are unhealthy or will remain asymptomatic. Also scientists need to know if an infected animal and then transmit the virus to other animals or even people.
In this regard, it is noteworthy that in the Netherlands recently there have been cases of infection of farm mink virus SARS-CoV-2, resulting in two people were infected from these animals in the outbreaks. The result was crammed with thousands of burrows.
Professor Edwards argues that there is an urgent need for wider monitoring of populations of animals by testing a large number of animals for the presence of virus. She said that the main attention should be paid to animals that live near humans, such as Pets, livestock and representatives of city wildlife.
“More laboratory experiments on a small number of animals is unlikely to give us the evidence necessary for the conviction that some types are completely safe, so the major observation is the only real possibility, insists Edwards. – We need more information, taking at the same time, simple precautions, particularly in relation to species that can quickly spread the virus in the wild. Reliable risk assessment will also need to examine our ability to control the outbreak among these animals, namely our ability to isolate, protect, or contain different animals.”
