You, Covid -19 and Your Pets with Doctor Liz Bales
You, Covid -19 and Your Pets
Dr. Liz Bales (More info on Dr. Bales https://www.doclizbales.com)
It is hard to be calm and patient with all of the frightening information swirling around about the novel coronavirus. What does it all mean? Let me break the science down for you - what we know, what we don’t know and what we can reasonably predict.
The word “novel” means that this is a virus that has never existed before. When a brand new, novel virus emerges, no living creature has immunity. Additionally, having never existed before, we do not have reliable information on how this virus will infect people and/or animals. The best we can do is learn as quickly as possible.
It is human nature that in the absence of information, we panic and presume the worst case scenario. That is not helpful, and likely not accurate.
What we know so far is that most people infected with the virus have no symptoms, or mild, mostly upper respiratory symptoms. The true number of people infected with the novel coronavirus is not known, because we are not testing everyone. Due to limited tests and the limitations of our systems, many people that have symptoms are not being tested. A very small number of the people that test positive for the novel coronavirus are very sick with pneumonia-like symptoms and some of those people die. As time goes on, doctors and scientists will have more information and will be able to predict what is likely to happen with greater certainty.
Healthcare professionals - doctors, nurses, and the many people that staff our healthcare system - are doing the best that they can, and are also putting themselves at risk to help us. We owe them our patience and appreciation.
And, what about our pets? Are they safe from the novel coronavirus? Will the virus be transmissible between humans and animals? Will animals transmit the virus to each other?
What we know so far is that a human in Hong Kong tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was placed in quarantine. That person had a dog that was also placed in quarantine. The dog is showing no sign of illness, but has tested weak positive for the virus.
We do not have enough information about the transmission of the novel coronavirus between animals and people at this time. Hong Kong health officials are recommending that the mammalian pets of humans that test positive for the virus be quarantined.
Scientists are collecting information as quickly as possible. At this time, they presume that animals will not be a source of infection to people.
I will continue to bring you updates on animals and the novel coronavirus as they become available.
Dr. Liz Bales (More info on Dr. Bales https://www.doclizbales.com)