2 cats in NY become first US pets to test positive for virus

Two pet cats in New York state have tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the first confirmed cases in companion animals in the United States, federal officials said.

The cats, which had mild respiratory illnesses and areexpected to recover, are thought to have contracted the virus from people intheir households or neighbourhoods, the US Department of Agriculture and thefederal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

   

The finding, which comes after positive tests in some tigersand lions at the Bronx Zoo, adds to a small number of confirmed cases of thevirus in animals worldwide.

US authorities say that while it appears some animals canget the virus from people, there’s no indication the animals are transmittingit to human beings.

“We don’t want people to panic. We don’t want people to beafraid of pets” or to rush to test them en masse, said Casey Barton Behravesh,a CDC official who works on human-animal health connections.

“There’s no evidence that pets are playing a role in spreadingthis disease to people.”

Still, the CDC is recommending that people prevent theirpets from interacting with people or animals outside their homes — by keepingcats indoors and dogs out of dog parks, for instance.Coronavirus testing for pets isn’t recommendedunless an animal has been exposed to a person with COVID-19 and the animal hassymptoms of the disease — and tests have ruled out more common possible causes,said Jane Rooney of the USDA.

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