COVID-19 miscellaneous FAQ - People & Pets
Updates from the desk of Dr. Scott Weese:
"It’s pretty much full time COVID-19 around here, and I’ve gotten behind on posting. I figured it might be useful to recap some of the more common questions that are going around:
Does the SARS-CoV-2 virus (virus that causes COVID-19) infect animals?
Yes. But…
…The virus likely originated in an animal of some kind, and has since been found in a relatively healthy dog, but we don’t know much more than that. From a transmission standpoint, this is a human disease. Whether it’s purely human or predominantly human is a lingering question. If it’s purely a human disease, we can ignore the animal side (except for their potential to be contaminated fomites, more on that below). If it’s predominantly a human disease with minor animal involvement, the focus still needs to be on people, but there are some animal aspects worth considering."