"Dogs and Covid-19, enough unjustified alarmism", word of Nicola Decaro, full professor of Infectious Animal Diseases

    Dogs and Covid, why absolutely must not worry according to Nicola Decaro, Full Professor of Infectious Diseases of Animals

    He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

    The recent report of a case of positivity for SARS-CoV-2 in a dog in the province of Bari has caused unjustified alarmism in the population and in particular in pet owners. In fact, although it is not a sensational discovery from a scientific point of view, the news has aroused considerable media outcry that has agitated many owners. To clarify and explain why we absolutely must not worry is Nicola Decaro, Full Professor of Infectious Animal Diseases at the University of Bari and MYLAV expert consultant.





    The dog, a 1 and a half year old poodle, belonging to a family of positive for COVID-19, did not develop any symptoms, but simply tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (which is carried out in dogs and be human in the exact same way, with a simple swab) for a few consecutive days, and then become negativised. In all the swabs carried out on the animal and positive results, very low viral titers were found, so the dog could not have infected any human or animal.

    Sporadic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in dogs have been described in different parts of the world since the onset of the pandemic. The first case was reported, in fact, already at the end of February 2020 in a 17-year-old Pomeranian from Hong Kong (who later died for reasons completely independent of the infection). A few days later, also in Hong Kong, even a one and a half year old German Shepherd tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 without, however, showing symptoms and becoming negativised within a few days. Other cases have since been observed in the USA, Japan, Canada and the Netherlands. Only in very few of these, the infected dogs developed a modest respiratory symptoms, resolved in a few days, while most of the infections were completely asymptomatic.

    Furthermore, in all reported cases, these animals became infected due to close and prolonged contact with positive human patients and had very low viral titers in their secretions and excreta (nasal, oropharyngeal and faeces swabs), therefore considered non-infectious. Experimental infection tests have also confirmed that dogs have absolutely no epidemiological role in the pandemic. Not all experimentally infected dogs became infected and those who became infected always developed asymptomatic infections, characterized by a low viral load, which can only be seen with the molecular test. Instead, the isolation tests on cell cultures (the only ones that can demonstrate the infectivity of the biological sample) have always resulted negative. Furthermore, not all subjects who were found to be infected produced specific antibodies.



    A study conducted by the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Bari, in collaboration with the University of Milan, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and veterinary diagnostic laboratories (MyLav Laboratorio LaVallonea and i-Vet) has shown that some dogs and cats, which lived in regions most affected by the first pandemic wave, possessed specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. None of the animals tested, however, had so far tested positive in the molecular test, so it is reasonable to think that these few animals had become infected before sampling and had already passed the infection. Most of the HIV-positive animals belonged to families with cases of COVID-19, testifying once again that it is close contact with infected people that favors the passage of the infection to our pets.

    In conclusion, both the cases of natural infection and the evidence of experimental infection document a poor sensitivity of the dog towards SARS-CoV-2 and a negligible, if not completely non-existent, epidemiological role. Compared to the nearly 60 million men infected with the virus worldwide, there is, to date, not a single case of transmission from dogs (or cats). Dogs, at best, are "victims" of human contagion and not greasers. Precisely for this reason, according to the principle of maximum caution, according to the guidelines of all international scientific societies dealing with companion animals, dogs (and cats) living in families positive for COVID-19 must be "protected" from contagion, for which it is advisable to have them cared for by non-infected family members or, in the event of a positive outcome of the entire family, by relatives or friends who may be able to keep them at home for as long as necessary.



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