Lecture

Title:
SARSCoV-2 infection in domestic and wild cats: current situation
Speaker:
Regina Hofmann-Lehmann
Topic:
HIGH LEVEL FELINE MEDICINE
Date:
Thursday, 20 October 2022
Time:
17:30 - 18:25
Language:
Lecture presented in English
Room:
Paris (Room Capacity 340 vets)
The pandemic with the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has led to infections and deaths worldwide. Apart from humans, certain animal species are susceptible to the viral infection. Felids are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infections. In experimental studies, cats became readily infected and transmitted the infection to other cats. In domestic and stray cats without a reported history of contact with SARS-CoV-2 infected people, infection incidence is low, while in COVID-19 affected households a remarkable percentage of infected cats has been recognized. Moreover, various wild cat species have shown to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Some wild and domestic felids show clinical signs, but mostly asymptomatic infections have been described particularly in domestic cats. So far no reservoir building in feline populations has been found and the major transmission route is still human-to-human, so the infection risk for humans from infected cats is probably minimal. However, surveillance of animals still is an important component to fight the pandemic from a One Health perspective.

References

Time zone: Central European Time (CET) UTC+1           This presentation will also be broadcast online after the congress

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