Animal care in times of Coronavirus
We've gotten a lot of information from national organizations (AAHA, AVMA), state organization (IVMA) and local health dept. There are webinars going on daily. What your vet does probably depends on...
Forum Discussion
I guess a little short course in infectious disease, virology and zoonosis would be helpful.
For the most part viruses are species specific, meaning that they can only cause disease in that species or very close relatives. Dog viruses are dog viruses and don't infect cats or people. One major exception is rabies, it can infect just about every warm blooded animal.
When a virus from one species that normally doesn't infect another species mutates it can jump from one species to another. That's probably what happened here. Right now the suspect is the pangolin. They way that they figure these things out is by genetic mapping. They can compare the genetic composition and how it's changed.
They can actually trace back human to human transmission of the virus by statistically evaluating mutation rates and changes in the genome (this is way beyond my training and knowledge, but I know it's done).
I don't know enough about bats to add to this discussion, but it is true that bats carry rabies for long periods.
For the most part viruses are species specific, meaning that they can only cause disease in that species or very close relatives. Dog viruses are dog viruses and don't infect cats or people. One major exception is rabies, it can infect just about every warm blooded animal.
When a virus from one species that normally doesn't infect another species mutates it can jump from one species to another. That's probably what happened here. Right now the suspect is the pangolin. They way that they figure these things out is by genetic mapping. They can compare the genetic composition and how it's changed.
They can actually trace back human to human transmission of the virus by statistically evaluating mutation rates and changes in the genome (this is way beyond my training and knowledge, but I know it's done).
I don't know enough about bats to add to this discussion, but it is true that bats carry rabies for long periods.
