7 ms·

Coronavirus: Belgian woman infected her cat

62 points by evo_9 7y ago

russfink 7y ago
And pets will practice social distancing even worse than people, if you can imagine that.
- cperciva 7y ago
  Cats are probably better at social distancing than dogs.
  - pugworthy 7y ago
    Tell that to Hillary, who insists on sitting on my wife's chest any time she lies down. Or Henry who insists on sleeping on my shoulder when I lie down.
    - saber6 7y ago
      Yeah but try to touch/pet a cat when it doesn’t want you to. Lol.
jagger27 7y ago
I can't imagine it's terribly likely, but imagine if you infected your outdoor cat, which then infected other neighbourhood cats, which then infected people who were otherwise isolating themselves?
- rdiddly 7y ago
  It's like a diabolical apocalyptic sci-fi plot twist.
  - loopz 7y ago
    The truly diabolical twist is a nefarious virus mutation in the pet strain, for a 2nd deadly wave after general societal fatigue.
econcon 7y ago
Assuming virus structure doesn't change inside pets, why pet to human transmission is not possible? Shouldn't it be very likely? You've a virus which can go from humans to pets and reverse, why? Any other virus where it's proven to be only one way street?
- dehrmann 7y ago
  Could be an old theory, but the popular theory was it transferred from bats to humans, so yeah, this will probably happen. What this case doesn't say if it's readily transmissible between cats or between cats and humans. For all we know, people get viruses from other species all the time, the virus doesn't transmit well, so it stops there.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- crispyporkbites 7y ago
  No. Viruses from humans cannot be carried by dogs or other pets, except in very extreme cases. Stastically speaking it doesn’t happen and it’s not something to worry about.
  - balnaphone 7y ago
    Rabies, influenzas, haemorrhagic fevers, West Nile, coronaviruses, and Zika might like to have a word with you on the subject.
    - crispyporkbites 7y ago
      Rabies is one of millions of viruses, it’s very very rare for a new virus to jump from one host species to another new species. Covid 19 already jumped from bats to people, it would need to mutate again to survive in a pet and spread via that vector.
      - peatmoss 7y ago
DingleDook101 7y ago
These papers sure are getting desperate for views.
mkagenius 7y ago
This is weird. > the cheetahs, but developed no overt symptoms [6]. Also, experimental transmission of the Aju-CoV to three domestic kittens failed to cause disease [6]. Perhaps also relevant is that when the human SARS-CoV was induced in domestic cats, they developed no symptoms 1. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(04)00143-5.pdf https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(04)00143...
- Amygaz 7y ago
  I also find this weirdly dubious, but not impossible. I do know that to study human coronavirus in mice, we had to create a mouse line expressing the human ACE2 protein. I just did a quick protein alignment and the %sequence identity between human and select animals are: Bats: 81.5% Mice: 81.9% Dogs: 84.1% Cats: 85.2%
lend000 7y ago
Perhaps someone with a better understanding of virology can clarify this for me. My understanding is that the coronavirus binds to relatively generic cell receptors present on lots of different cell types (ACE-2 and possibly others) and this is responsible for the wide variety of symptoms, depending on which of the many susceptible areas of the body get infected first. This may also enable lots of different species with these similar generic receptors to become infected. This virus seems like the ultimate generalist.
- etiam 7y ago
  Hardly ultimate, but coronaviruses are apparently (in)famous for a relatively high propensity to cross species barriers. This review from 2017 looks very relevant https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2017.01.002 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2017.01.002 I'll leave the rest to people who may have specialist level competence on the topic.
etiam 7y ago
Related: further corroboration of infection in the dogs in Hong Kong. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3077177/coronavirus-final-testing-hong-kong-dogs-blood https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/artic...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
doodlebugging 7y ago
I have been wondering about this myself. I have a cat that lives entirely outside, the second sweetest cat ever. If I get sick I sure don't want to infect my cat. Now, I wouldn't mind if the cat caught it, was not sick herself and then passed it on to some of the rat population around here as long as the rats got sick. Also, are there any reports that this virus can jump to birds like chickens? I have been looking for chickens since eggs seem to be in short supply around here. Good luck to all of y'all.
- pravda 7y ago
  What? How could a cat pass anything on to a rat? You think rats go looking for cats to snuggle up with? Prey animals generally try to avoid their predictors.
  - doodlebugging 7y ago
    My cat plays with the rats and mice she catches before she kills them to eat. Even then she rarely eats all of the animal. Brains seem to be her preference since she eats the heads and leaves most of the rest on the porch. Some of the small animals she catches escape because she gets bored or distracted when someone comes out the door to see what all the commotion is about. With that said, you're right, it doesn't make any sense that a rat would live long enough to catch anything in an encounter with a cat.
  - tzs 7y ago
    > What? How could a cat pass anything on to a rat? Everybody poops. Everybody eats and drinks. Sometimes these two overlap more than is sanitary. It's not a virus, but check out the parasite toxoplasma gondii for an example of an organism that uses this mechanism to get from cats (it only can reproduce in cat intestines) to rats (where it lives in their brains). It needs to get back to cats from the rats when it is time to reproduce, which is the really interesting part of its life cycle. It doesn't just wait around on the off chance a cat will happen to eat the rat. No, it alters the rat's brain to make the rat lose its fear of the smell of cat urine. Normally, rats avoid territory marked by cats, but not those with a toxoplasma gondii infestation. It even makes male rats confuse that smell with that of a female rat, so they actually end up seeking out cats. Truly something out of a horror movie [1]. PS: it's also not uncommon in humans. [1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-parasite-that-makes-a-rat-love-a-cat-86515093/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-parasite-t...
eruci 7y ago
Good luck teaching social distance to cats and dogs.
viklove 7y ago
Are you assuming everyone on HN knows your cats' names?
RickJWagner 7y ago
Earlier, WHO tested canines to see if they could contract the virus. After extensive quarantine and testing, WHO determined the dogs could not carry the virus and released them back to their owners. That's right, WHO let the dogs out. (Downvote as you must. It was worth it.)
- midrus 7y ago
  Woofff..wof..wooof
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

62 points by evo_9 7y ago

russfink 7y ago

And pets will practice social distancing even worse than people, if you can imagine that.

cperciva 7y ago
Cats are probably better at social distancing than dogs.
- pugworthy 7y ago
  Tell that to Hillary, who insists on sitting on my wife's chest any time she lies down. Or Henry who insists on sleeping on my shoulder when I lie down.
  - saber6 7y ago
    Yeah but try to touch/pet a cat when it doesn’t want you to. Lol.

jagger27 7y ago

I can't imagine it's terribly likely, but imagine if you infected your outdoor cat, which then infected other neighbourhood cats, which then infected people who were otherwise isolating themselves?

rdiddly 7y ago
It's like a diabolical apocalyptic sci-fi plot twist.
- loopz 7y ago
  The truly diabolical twist is a nefarious virus mutation in the pet strain, for a 2nd deadly wave after general societal fatigue.

econcon 7y ago

Assuming virus structure doesn't change inside pets, why pet to human transmission is not possible? Shouldn't it be very likely? You've a virus which can go from humans to pets and reverse, why? Any other virus where it's proven to be only one way street?

dehrmann 7y ago
Could be an old theory, but the popular theory was it transferred from bats to humans, so yeah, this will probably happen. What this case doesn't say if it's readily transmissible between cats or between cats and humans. For all we know, people get viruses from other species all the time, the virus doesn't transmit well, so it stops there.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
crispyporkbites 7y ago
No. Viruses from humans cannot be carried by dogs or other pets, except in very extreme cases. Stastically speaking it doesn’t happen and it’s not something to worry about.
- balnaphone 7y ago
  Rabies, influenzas, haemorrhagic fevers, West Nile, coronaviruses, and Zika might like to have a word with you on the subject.
  - crispyporkbites 7y ago
    Rabies is one of millions of viruses, it’s very very rare for a new virus to jump from one host species to another new species. Covid 19 already jumped from bats to people, it would need to mutate again to survive in a pet and spread via that vector.
    - peatmoss 7y ago

DingleDook101 7y ago

These papers sure are getting desperate for views.

mkagenius 7y ago

This is weird. > the cheetahs, but developed no overt symptoms [6]. Also, experimental transmission of the Aju-CoV to three domestic kittens failed to cause disease [6]. Perhaps also relevant is that when the human SARS-CoV was induced in domestic cats, they developed no symptoms 1. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(04)00143-5.pdf https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(04)00143...

Amygaz 7y ago
I also find this weirdly dubious, but not impossible. I do know that to study human coronavirus in mice, we had to create a mouse line expressing the human ACE2 protein. I just did a quick protein alignment and the %sequence identity between human and select animals are: Bats: 81.5% Mice: 81.9% Dogs: 84.1% Cats: 85.2%

lend000 7y ago

Perhaps someone with a better understanding of virology can clarify this for me. My understanding is that the coronavirus binds to relatively generic cell receptors present on lots of different cell types (ACE-2 and possibly others) and this is responsible for the wide variety of symptoms, depending on which of the many susceptible areas of the body get infected first. This may also enable lots of different species with these similar generic receptors to become infected. This virus seems like the ultimate generalist.

etiam 7y ago
Hardly ultimate, but coronaviruses are apparently (in)famous for a relatively high propensity to cross species barriers. This review from 2017 looks very relevant https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2017.01.002 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2017.01.002 I'll leave the rest to people who may have specialist level competence on the topic.

etiam 7y ago

Related: further corroboration of infection in the dogs in Hong Kong. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3077177/coronavirus-final-testing-hong-kong-dogs-blood https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/artic...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

doodlebugging 7y ago

I have been wondering about this myself. I have a cat that lives entirely outside, the second sweetest cat ever. If I get sick I sure don't want to infect my cat. Now, I wouldn't mind if the cat caught it, was not sick herself and then passed it on to some of the rat population around here as long as the rats got sick. Also, are there any reports that this virus can jump to birds like chickens? I have been looking for chickens since eggs seem to be in short supply around here. Good luck to all of y'all.

pravda 7y ago
What? How could a cat pass anything on to a rat? You think rats go looking for cats to snuggle up with? Prey animals generally try to avoid their predictors.
- doodlebugging 7y ago
  My cat plays with the rats and mice she catches before she kills them to eat. Even then she rarely eats all of the animal. Brains seem to be her preference since she eats the heads and leaves most of the rest on the porch. Some of the small animals she catches escape because she gets bored or distracted when someone comes out the door to see what all the commotion is about. With that said, you're right, it doesn't make any sense that a rat would live long enough to catch anything in an encounter with a cat.
- tzs 7y ago
  > What? How could a cat pass anything on to a rat? Everybody poops. Everybody eats and drinks. Sometimes these two overlap more than is sanitary. It's not a virus, but check out the parasite toxoplasma gondii for an example of an organism that uses this mechanism to get from cats (it only can reproduce in cat intestines) to rats (where it lives in their brains). It needs to get back to cats from the rats when it is time to reproduce, which is the really interesting part of its life cycle. It doesn't just wait around on the off chance a cat will happen to eat the rat. No, it alters the rat's brain to make the rat lose its fear of the smell of cat urine. Normally, rats avoid territory marked by cats, but not those with a toxoplasma gondii infestation. It even makes male rats confuse that smell with that of a female rat, so they actually end up seeking out cats. Truly something out of a horror movie [1]. PS: it's also not uncommon in humans. [1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-parasite-that-makes-a-rat-love-a-cat-86515093/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-parasite-t...

eruci 7y ago

Good luck teaching social distance to cats and dogs.

viklove 7y ago

Are you assuming everyone on HN knows your cats' names?

RickJWagner 7y ago

Earlier, WHO tested canines to see if they could contract the virus. After extensive quarantine and testing, WHO determined the dogs could not carry the virus and released them back to their owners. That's right, WHO let the dogs out. (Downvote as you must. It was worth it.)

midrus 7y ago
Woofff..wof..wooof
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]