In the past couple of months various reports of SARS-CoV-2 or Covid-19 infection in domestic animals has become a common concern for many veterinarians and their clients around the world. Most coronavirus infections in companion animals cause primarily gastrointestinal disease with few exceptions including infectious bronchitis virus in birds, hepatitis virus in mice and canine respiratory coronavirus in dogs. The mutation rate of coronaviruses (CoV) is higher than other single stranded RNA viruses, and results in an increase of genetic recombination and the production of novel CoVs of high genomic diversity and unpredictable virulence. Its potential for cross-species transmission and its variety in zoonotic reservoirs has already resulted in the emergence of highly pathogenic human SARS-CoV in 2020 and MERS-CoV in 2013 and it is a matter of time, not if but when there will be another interspecies transmission outbreak.
Key words: Pets, transmission, Covid-19, Infection
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