SARS-CoV-2 has never been an exclusively human problem. Since the early days of the pandemic, scientists have been concerned about the impact of the virus responsible for COVID-19 on pets, livestock, and wildlife. Cats and dogs can become infected, and cats appear to transmit the coronavirus to other cats, at least in the lab. Minks at hundreds of farms around the globe have suffered outbreaks, leading to massive culling, and in some cases, human infections. And scientists worry people or domestic animals could transmit the virus to wildlife, creating an uncontrollable reservoir of the disease.
Fortunately, very effective human vaccines have arrived (though it may take a while for everyone to get one). But are vaccines for pets and other animals necessary? How will they be developed? And how quickly could they become available? Here’s what we know so far.
Just to hijack your post 2greys.....check out the parrot on the BBC new site .....put on a diet because it could hear a crisp packet being opened 4 miles away ....and loved crisps . It says hello in different voices.I earlier watched a you tube video of a grey parrot copying its owners cough .
I quite well believe it Cinders gets excited at the sound of rustling bags. I make our own crisps, in the microwave and guess what, I often have Cinders sat on my shoulder, supervising the proceedings. Of course she gets her reward too and healthier than out of a packet, they are not allowed to have salt, it is bad for parrots, as well as bad for my own high blood pressure. They taste much better too. Instructions to make microwave crisps are on the web and videos can be found on YouTube. But you need to have good hand control, using a knife, to be able to slice the spuds very thinly, a broad bladed chopping knife is best.
I have to say she is not fat and can fly, if she wants too, although she prefers to walk for some reason. Probably because we have had her from an unweaned baby and thinks she is human, copying us.
Doubtful that we'll ever know certain where/how Covid19 originated. That said, and giving the Chinese the benefit of the doubt, they did say that it came from a bat in one of those ugh meat markets. My question is regarding the wild animals in China...as that bat would have once been in the wild world, would the animals they lived among also be an endless source of reinfection, as the author mentioned in the article you cited? J
Humans hunting wild animals for food and encroaching on their habitat, has always been a problem with viruses jumping across species. The same also can happen with keeping mixed domestic animals, some of the worlds worse flu outbreaks have come from keeping ducks, pigs and humans together in close confines, interestingly that occurred in China too.
People living together an crowded conditions as with shanty towns and huge cities will always help the spread of pathogens. Imagine one of the huge tower blocks with everyone using the lifts to get between the floors and a novel pathogen that transmits via touch, through sweat glands. Thousands could be infected in just one day.
People have been living with these risk for decades. Fortunately, so far, it rarely ever happens.
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