Thread by @DrEricDing

Becoming pretty clear now that dogs & cats can become infected by #B117.

Also, a London hospital had noticed a sharp uptick in the number of dogs and cats with myocarditis: From Dec 2020 to Feb 2021, the incidence jumped from 1.4% to 12.8%. #COVID19 🧵
sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/m…

2) That coincided with a surge of 🇬🇧 #B117 variant. Studying 11 pets: “eight cats and three dogs. None of the animals had a previous history of heart disease, yet all had come down with symptoms ranging from lethargy and loss of appetite to rapid breathing and fainting.”

3) “Lab tests revealed cardiac abnormalities, including irregular heartbeats and fluid in the lungs, all symptoms seen in human cases of COVID-19.”

4) “Seven of the animals got polymerase chain reaction tests, and three came back positive for SARS-CoV-2—all with the B.1.1.7 variant, team reported yesterday in preprint. antibody tests on 4 of the other animals picked up evidence that 2 of them had been infected.”

5) “Earlier this week, researchers at Texas A&M University detected the B.1.1.7 variant in a cat & a dog from the same home in Brazos county.
The Texas owner was diagnosed with COVID-19, and owners of 5 of 11 U.K. pets tested positive—all before their animals developed symptoms.

6) “The Texas pets showed no symptoms at the time they were tested, though they both began to sneeze several weeks later. All of the U.S. and U.K. animals have since recovered, though one of the U.K. cats relapsed and had to be euthanized.

7) “It’s “impossible to say” that pets infected with B.1.1.7 might play a more serious role in the pandemic, he adds, but “this hypothesis has to be seriously raised.”

8) scientists and veterinarians should do studies on role variants play in myocarditis among pets. The virus can cause the condition in people, so it’s worth exploring in companion animals. “It might be real,” he says, “but there’s no reason for people to freak out right now.”