I’ve had a blog writing dry spell lately (too much other stuff to catch up on), so I’ll jump back with a quick summary of some recent papers on SARS-CoV-2 in animals. There isn’t really anything surprising here, but it’s a continuation of what we’ve been learning and saying for a while.
Critiquing Early COVID-19 Posts: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
I’ve taken a look back at some posts from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to see how my thoughts have evolved, what I got right and what I screwed up. We have a lot of COVID-19 posts (starting from when we called it “novel coronavirus” or “Wuhan coronavirus” before the SARS-CoV-2 terminology existed).
B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 Variant, Pets and Myocarditis
I tweeted recently about the first report of the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant being found in animals, specifically in a dog and cat in Texas, which deserves some more discussion. Also a new pre-print article (i.e. non-peer-reviewed paper) was posted recently that will probably raise more concerns, so I figured I’d better write about that
How to Stay Healthy Around Pets – CDC
I’m always on the lookout for good-looking, easy-access resources to help communicate (and to help others communicate) messages around safe and responsible pet ownership, which is how this blog got its start! I also don’t like re-inventing the wheel when I don’t have to, and I appreciate that many organizations have people with vastly better
COVID-19 and Overdue Dog/Cat Vaccines, Part 2: Rabies
In some ways, the approach to rabies vaccine is easy. In other ways, it’s complicated. To some degree, the medicine is easy, but other considerations (like regulatory requirements) cloud the picture.
The medicine:
Rabies vaccines are highly effective. A single initial dose provides at least 1 year of protection. The first dose is supposed
COVID-19 and Overdue Dog/Cat Vaccines, Part 1: Core Vaccines
I’ve been dealing with questions (and some threats) about this issue for many months:
How to handle overdue vaccines because of COVID-19 delays
It’s a complex issue that’s hard to navigate because of limited data. We know how most vaccines work when used according to the label instructions. We don’t know much about what happens
Routine Testing of Sick Pets Exposed to Owners With COVID-19: South Korea
There’s an interesting report that pets of people with COVID-19 in Seoul, Korea (and soon other areas) will be tested for SARS-CoV-2 for free, if the pets are showing signs of compatible illness. This comes on the heels of the (unsurprising) identification of an infected kitten in the city at the end of January,
Cats and SARS-CoV-2 Re-Infection
We know cats are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, and it appears that human-to-cat transmission may be pretty common in households where people have COVID-19. In the big picture, that’s probably not a huge issue, since most cats that get infected show no signs or develop only mild disease, and most infected cats have limited opportunity to
Freeze Dried vs Fresh vs Frozen Raw Pet Foods
I got a question about an old post on this topic, so I decided to add a bit of information and re-post it. Not much has changed since it was written in 2018, apart from more reports of people and pets getting sick from raw pet food and raw treats.
COVID-19 in Gorillas, Toxoplasma in People
I usually link blog posts to Tweets, rather than re-hash my Twitter musings (weese_scott) on the blog, but two things I posted on Twitter today may be of interest here.
COVID-19 in captive gorillas
Not surprisingly, COVID-19 has been identified in captive gorillas, in this case at the San Diego zoo. It’s suspected that