Coronavirus
I thought I’d share some thoughts about the coronavirus threat that is occupying the news now. I’m not convinced we’ll get accurate information as some deny there is a threat while others may tend to...
Forum Discussion
A new study recently published about Corona in animals.
Summary:
Summary:
A couple of Canadian researchers may have figured out why cats get COVID and dogs don’t: a mutation in the gene that provides a vector for the novel coronavirus. While a few noted dogs have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, no dogs have been diagnosed with COVID-19 to date.
Researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, published a study in which the authors write: “A single genetic change in the host receptor for the virus inherited in cats, but not dogs, correlates with feline susceptibility.”
In other words, during SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus targets the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 protein (ACE2). Dogs have a mutation in their ACE2 that gives them a natural resistance to the novel coronavirus. Cats don’t.
That seems to apply to all cats, large and small: the researchers determined that, along with cats, a number of different feline species—cheetahs, leopards, tigers, and lions—are likely to be susceptible to the virus. So are ferrets.
Dogs, bears, pigs, chickens, and ducks are not.
