The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has announced an outbreak of E. coli O157 infections in people linked to Carnivora brand raw pet food, and Health Canada has issued a recall of a number of Carnivora products due to potential contamination with E. coli O157. Illnesses have been reported in four individuals in
COVID-19 Cat: Minnesota
I said I’d probably stop reporting on individual animal cases if they’re just repeating what we already know. So, I hesitated on this most recent feline case, but there’s an interesting timing component that’s worth discussing.
SARS-CoV-2 was identified in a cat with respiratory disease in Minnesota. The owners were infected first, the cat
New Feline SARS-CoV-2 Experimental Infection Study
A new experimental study of SARS-CoV-2 in cats (Bosco-Lauth et al. 2020, available in pre-print on bioRxiv) re-inforces information from earlier studies and provides some important new insights. The standard disclaimer that the information is from a pre-print (non-peer-reviewed) source applies, but the science seems pretty sound.
For this study, seven adult
New Feline Virus: Fechavirus
As SARS-CoV-2 reminded everyone, there are lots of undiscovered viruses out there, and some of them can cause disease in humans, animals, or both. It’s not very hard to find a new virus, actually. Figuring out what it means is often the challenge, because simply finding a virus in a sick person or animal doesn’t
More COVID-19 Odds and Ends
A few quick updates on some recent SARS-CoV-2-related stories.
North Carolina dog: Positive result not confirmed
This case, a pug in North Carolina that had an oral swab that supposedly tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 as part of a Duke University household surveillance study, was reported a few weeks ago. It was strange that there
Dogs, Cats, Mink: A Dutch Menagerie of SARS-CoV-2 Cases
I keep saying I’m going to stop talking about sporadic new SARS-CoV-2 infections in animals unless there’s something noteworthy. I’ll mention some recent cases in a dog and some cats in the Netherlands because I think there are some unique aspects that fit that bill.
Infected dog
This infected dog was euthanized on account of
Shelter Adoptions in the COVID-19 Era
Since we’re entering kitten season, there will be lots of animals in shelters needing homes. I’ve done a couple of virtual talks for shelter groups this week, with a focus on implementing physical distancing and other preventive measures, while maintaining as much of a semblance of normal shelter operations as possible.
I’ve also had quite
COVID-19 in Animals: A Few Updates
Nothing too remarkable to report, but here are a few recent developments.
Dogs
Details about the first two SARS-CoV-2-positive dogs in Hong Kong have been published in Nature. We’ve previously heard most of the information before, but here’s a quick summary:
- Two out of 15 dogs were identified as positive for SARS-CoV-2, after being
COVID-19 Experimental Infection in Cats
Cats are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. That’s been shown experimentally and in a limited number of documented natural infections. However, there’s still a lot we need to know to better understand the feline and human health implications of this virus. While limitations of experimental studies always have to be considered (since they’re based on an artificial
COVID-19 in a cat: Spain
Pretty soon, I’ll stop writing about single reports of cats identified as infected with SARS-CoV-2. These cases aren’t surprising, and sporadic case reports don’t provide much new information. However, I’ll give a quick rundown of the latest case of an infected cat from Spain. It’s only reported in news articles, as far as I