Can my pets get COVID?

NEW YORK (AP) – Can your pet get COVID-19?

Yes, pets and other animals can contract the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, but health officials say the risk of them spreading to humans is low.

Dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, otters, hyenas and white-tailed deer are among the animals that have tested positive, in most cases after contracting the disease from an infected person.

While you don’t have to worry as much about getting COVID-19 from your pets, they should worry about getting COVID-19 from you. People with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 should avoid contact with pets, farm animals, and wildlife, as well as with other people, according to the CDC. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If you are not going near others because you are sick or you may be exposed, do not go near another animal,” said Dr. Scott Weese at the Ontario Veterinary College. Ontario Veterinary College said.

This particular coronavirus most likely jumped from animal to human in the first place, triggering a pandemic because the virus spreads so easily between people. But it does not spread easily from animals to humans. Mink are the only known animal to have caught the virus from humans and spread it back, according to Weese.

Three Nordic countries have reported cases of human-to-mink transmission of the virus on ferret farms. The virus circulated among animals before being passed on to farmers.

The way animals easily infect and spread can vary with different variants, Weese said, and the best way to prevent the virus from spreading between animals is to control it between people. , Weese said.