Vets and animal lovers nail social media lies that pets can spread Covid-19

Bengaluru: A veterinarian here has debunked the notion, being spread by a social media campaign, that the coronavirus (COVID-19) can be transmitted from animals to humans.

Dr Srikrishna Isloor, associate professor of microbiology at the Veterinary College, Bengaluru, said there is no chance of COVID-19 spreading from consumption of any form of meat including chicken.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Dr Isloor said, "I agree that the COVID-19 virus is found in pet animals like cats and dogs. But veterinary science has already developed a vaccine for this long ago for this. There is no chance of COVID-19 spreading through animals."

According him, this mistaken notion started with one small video clip released on social media when the COVID-19 outbreak in China started appearing in the newspapers.

"This is mischief by some people on social media. The national veterinary services in Hong Kong has reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health -- which is on par with the World Health Organisation -- that a man who tested COVID-19 positive was not infected through his pet dog. The tests were conducted on a real-time basis. The dog owner was found to be infected with COVID-19 but the dog wasn't," he explained.

According to him, the spread of COVID-19 has been through human-human contact not animal-human.

The Karnataka Veterinary Council, Pet Practitioners Association of Karnataka and Bengaluru Silicon Valley Kennel Club have strongly appealed all pet owners not to abandon their pets fearing the spread of coronavirus.

"Veterinary science has developed a vaccine for this disease in pets long ago. People can get their pets vaccinated if they want to instead of abandoning them. Do not add more panic by abandoning pets," the members of these organisations jointly appealed through their statement.