June 30, 2021

expert reaction to two conference abstracts looking at pet cats and dogs and whether they catch COVID-19 from their owners

Two studies presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) (not peer-reviewed papers) look at pet cats and dogs catching COVID-19 from their owners.

Prof James Wood, Head of Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, said:

“The two studies being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) conference meeting are very interesting and are consistent with a growing number of studies that are suggesting that a substantial proportion of pet cats and dogs may catch SARS-COV-2 virus from their owners.

“The Dutch study is robustly conducted and shows that around 20% of exposed pets may be infected, and that they eventually clear the infection just as most humans do.  Both studies present data that suggest that the infection passes from owners to pets and not vice versa, nor between pets, although there is some uncertainty in this due to the small numbers studied.  Both studies suggest that cats are more likely to be infected than dogs.  This may be associated with higher genetic susceptibility or with the closer contact that some cats have with their owners, compared to dogs and their owners.

“The Canadian study suggests a higher infection rate, but was only based on one test type; the association between infection and specific aspects of human : cat interactions (such as sleeping on the bed) could just be a correlate for close and prolonged contact rather than specifically indicating a risk of sharing a bed.

“Cats and dogs may commonly be infected with the virus, but most reports are that this infection appears to be asymptomatic.  It also seems that the virus does not normally transmit from dogs and cats to either other animals or their owners.  These studies need to be differentiated from earlier work that has reported a very small number of individual cats and dogs to be unwell after they caught COVID-19 from their owners.”

Conference abstract: ‘High prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in dogs and cats living in COVID-19 positive households’ by M. Kannekens-Jager et al. was under embargo until 23:01 UK time on Wednesday 30 June 2021.

This is not peer-reviewed.

Conference abstract: ‘Seropositivity for SARS-CoV-2 in cats and dogs’ by D. Bienzle et al. was under embargo until 23:01 UK time on Wednesday 30 June 2021.

This is not peer-reviewed.

Declared interests

None received.