Should We Worry About Our Pets in COVID-19 Pandemic?

Coronaviruses (CoV) cause disease in a wide range of animal species and are a major cause of zoonotic infections. Recently, a common human-animal CoV called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged, leading to a pandemic of COVID-19. Despite its high level of quarantine control, it has created a global epidemic in many developed countries. This emerging situation raises many questions. Is the infection only transmitted through humans to humans, or are other cases, such as animal-to-human or other environmental sources, also involved? We reviewed existing studies and assessed the potential risk of transmitting the coronavirus from pets to humans. Pets (dogs and cats), especially dogs are accustomed to licking themselves or others. In this way, they may introduce the virus into their respiratory or gastrointestinal tract. Instead, they can transmit diseases when they lick people's faces. In this study, we reviewed not only pet studies and their association with the coronavirus we also tested 22 samples of stray dogs and cats near COVID-19 patients hospital areas. Although no direct relationship was found between these animals and the hospital, we found that 14 (63.6%) of the 22 pets tested positive for COVID-19. Among them, 7 (31.8%) had cough and sneezing symptoms. The cases were stray animals, but the question that should be clarified is whether or not pets are involved in the transport chain? This needs further investigation.