Denmark is one of the largest mink producing countries in the world, and mink on numerous farms have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 from farm workers with COVID-19. At last report, 216 farms were affected. That wasn’t too surprising since outbreaks on mink farms have been seen in several countries, with particularly widespread infection on farms
COVID-19 in Animals Review Part 6: Marine Mammals
Perhaps this is one you didn’t see coming, but there have been lots of discussions about SARS-CoV-2 and marine mammals. You may think, “people don’t have much contact with marine mammals,” and of course you’d be correct, if you meant direct contact. However, human activity (and waste) can significantly influence marine mammal health.
COVID-19 in Animals Review Part 5: Horses
What the story with SARS-CoV-2 in horses?
This one’s easy to answer: we have no clue.
There’s been almost no investigation or research regarding this virus in horses. Horses often get left out in situations like this because they’re livestock, but not (typically) food animals, and investigation of livestock tends to focus on food animal
COVID-19 in Animals Review Part 4: Mustelids (Mink and Ferrets)
I’ve spent a lot more talking about mink in the past few months than I ever thought I would. In regard to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 in people), mink and ferrets (their close relatives) are a fascinating story, but I’ll try to be brief about it. Mink have become important because of the
COVID-19 in Animals Review Part 3: Pigs
Moving on from cats and dogs, let’s talk about one of our major livestock species, pigs.
Are pigs susceptible to the SARS-CoV-2 virus?
- Kind of, but not really. There are conflicting experimental data that show no or very little susceptibility to the virus.
Why did we talk a lot about pigs and SARS-CoV-2 initially?
SARS-CoV-2 Infected Dog: Canada
In our ongoing seroprevalence (antibody) testing, we’ve seen that human-to-pet transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is probably not uncommon. However, we hadn’t yet found a pet that was positive for the virus on swabs in Canada . (Antibody testing tells us if the subject was previously infected, whereas testing swabs by PCR tells us if the
COVID-19 in Animals Review Part 2: Dogs
Round two of my COVID-19 in animals summaries: Dogs
Are dogs susceptible to the SARS-CoV-2 virus?
Yes, but not very… maybe. It depends what you mean by “susceptible.”
Nice and clear, eh?
There’s a difference between being infected and getting sick. Dogs can be infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus (which is the virus that causes
COVID-19 in Animals Review Part 1: Cats
I’ve let the blog slip over the past week so it’s catch-up time. (I’ve been busier on Twitter – @weese_scott if anyone wants to follow that).
I want to get back to some COVID-19 discussion, and rather than a multi-species update, I figured I’d back up and focus on an overview of one species at
SARS-CoV-2 in Cats: More Updates
Here’s a quick update on some recent feline studies on SARS-CoV-2. Some come with the increasingly common disclaimer that they are pre-prints, meaning the studies haven’t yet undergone peer review by other scientists in the field.
Cats in Hong Kong (Barrs et al. Emerg Infect Dis 2020)
This study has undergone peer review,
Even More on COVID-19 Scent-Detection Dogs
I’ve written before about COVID-19 scent-detection dogs. I get lots of questions about them, and there are now several groups working in this area. There’s been a mix of information to date, ranging from encouraging to some pretty bad preliminary studies released on pre-print websites and other places. A dog’s nose is a wonderful