An international study suggests that our favourite pets are catching the alpha variant of the COVID-19 virus and some may be developing heart disease.
The alpha variant of the SARS-CoV-2 may be affecting the heart of dogs and cats, a new study found. It has previously been reported that the pets and other animals could also become infected by the COVID-19 virus. Now, this new study shows that their health might be on the line.
According to lead author, Dr Luca Ferasin, from the Ralph Veterinary Referral Centre, in the UK, their study is among the first to report the transmission of the alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2 to pet cats and dogs, and how their health might be affected.
“Our study reports the first cases of cats and dogs affected by the COVID-19 alpha variant and highlights, more than ever, the risk that companion animals can become infected with SARS-CoV-2,” Dr Ferasin said.
“We also reported the atypical clinical manifestations characterised by severe heart abnormalities, which is a well-recognised complication in people affected by COVID-19 but has never described in pets before,” he added.
The study followed the health of a small group of eight cats and three dogs diagnosed with myocarditis at a veterinary clinic. Among these animals, researchers identified two cats and one dog that tested positive for the alpha variant of the COVID-19 virus.
While the study provides evidence that pets may be getting the COVID-19 virus from humans, the authors acknowledge that other paths of infection remain to be studied. “We did not observe any finding to suggest a pet-to-pet or pet-to-human transmission by the B.1.1.7 variant,” the authors wrote in their report.
Also, the authors argue that their findings do not prove that infection with the COVID-19 virus causes heart disease in pets but provide compelling evidence that this issue needs to be further explored.
“The other remarkable observation is that the infected dogs and cats in this study had cardiac manifestations compatible with a diagnosis of suspected myocarditis. This could be a potential coincidental event and we should acknowledge the fact that we based our observations only on a population of pets referred to our cardiology service because of critical signs of heart disease,” the authors said in their report.
“Nevertheless, the stark acute increase in the number of cases with a particular cardiovascular disease manifestation (i.e., number of cases of suspected myocarditis compared to other cardiac pathologies, expressed as a percentage of all cases referred to the cardiology service), and the observation that the incidence of this rise mimicked the curve and timeline of the COVID-19 human pandemic in the United Kingdom due to the B.1.1.7 variant (Figure 1), is rather compelling, even if not conclusive,” the authors said in their report.