Scott Weese, DVM, shares important information about ferrets and SARS-CoV-2 from a recent study. They can get sick and become fomites. He also summarizes a new study that looked at susceptibility of a wider range of animals including dogs, cats, ferrets as well as pigs, chickens and ducks.
Ferrets and cats remain our main focus, both in terms of keeping infected people away from them (so the animals don’t get infected) and keeping exposed animals away from unexposed people. – Scott Weese, DVM
Source: WormsandGerms Blog, March 30, 2020. Link. Short study results summary:
- Ferrets were experimentally infected and developed fever, lethargy and cough.
- Ferrets in direct contact with infected ferrets got sick too.
- Ferrets in adjacent cages got infected (i.e. virus was passed to them) but they didn’t get sick, showing that the virus was spread by indirect contact, but that the amount of virus spread this way was probably low and not enough to cause disease.
Source: SARS-CoV-2 in dogs, cats and ferrets….A new experimental study, WormsandGerms Blog, April 1, 2020. Link.
INSIGHTS: Weese reminds veterinarians to screen pet owners about COVID-19 exposure. Not all pets in homes and backyards are known to veterinary teams. It is important to ask about other animals in the home or backyard. We don’t yet know if any backyard wild mammals are susceptible.
The ferrets that were injected got sick and ones exposed to those ferrets got sick. But have any studies been done of animals exposed to infected humans getting sick? And how conclusive is this study in showing that infected animals are then infecting people? I know we can’t experiment on humans, just wondering about the strength of conviction on this conclusion.
You would need to direct that question to Dr. Weese. A fomite is a fomite however.
Limiting pet exposure to a person with the virus was recommended.