Coronavirus in Dog. Researchers in the world have conducted a coronavirus or coronavirus survey in cats and dogs.
In general, coronaviruses occur in wildlife such as bats and mice and infect the respiratory and digestive tracts among other wildlife.
However, it turns out that coronavirus can also infect pets that are treated by humans, such as cats and dogs.
However, it should be noted that the coronavirus infection surveyed is not the cause of Covid-19, which is currently endemic.
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Coronavirus infects dogs
Some scientists and researchers say that a coronavirus that affects dogs is called Canine coronavirus (CCoV).
The CCoV virus can cause infections in the digestive tract and respiratory tract of dogs.
Coronavirus was first discovered in 1971, as a cause of diarrhea outbreaks in dogs in Germany. Most coronavirus infections are subclinical or cause no symptoms. “Even if it causes symptoms, it is rarely fatal or causes death,” he said.
Besides CCoV, there is another type of dog coronavirus, CRCoV, which can infect the respiratory tract and be first isolated from a dog’s lungs in the UK.
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Analysis
After going through genetic analysis, it turns out that this type is in one group with coronavirus from cattle (HCoV) and humans (HCoV-OC43).
“CCoV is probably derived from wild carnivores or meat-eating animals, which are the result of recombination of various coronaviruses. Wild carnivores may also play a role as intermediaries,” he said.
The researchers do some survey in 1994, which was held in South Kalimantan and North Sulawesi, with the fundamental question of whether there is a coronavirus in the body of canine pets in the region.
“Of the total 241 samples, the results were all negative,” he said.
Coronavirus infects cats
Meanwhile, a coronavirus in a cat named Feline coronavirus (FCoV) will usually attack the digestive tract.
Transmission among cats occurs via the fecal-oral route, and the frequency will be higher if there are many cats involved.
“Symptoms that appear are usually mild or subclinical so that treatment is not needed,” he said.
However, a coronavirus that attacks the digestive tract in cats can infect the membrane of the abdominal cavity (peritoneum), which usually causes more severe symptoms.
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Coronavirus in Dog, The infection
The infection was first observed in 1963 in Boston, United States, and a few years later, it was discovered that the cause was a type of coronavirus.
Researchers concluded that the origin of this virus has not been much studied. Still, this virus is thought to arise due to mutations and selection of immunity in cats, seen from the variation in genetic material obtained from various sources.
In several countries, surveys of domestic cats have also been conducted with the potential for coronaviruses. However, the study conducted in 2019 in some area was still in small numbers, namely 20 samples, and the results were all negative.
Actually, for the survey conducted, the sample size is still small. It does not mean, when negative guarantees that coronavirus does not exist
Researcher
Lack Of Research
Researchers acknowledge that surveys of dogs and cats that have and are infected with coronaviruses in several countries are still on a small scale for decision making.
Conducting a survey on a larger scale in Indonesia, it would be better to get objective results related to whether in cats and dogs, there is the potential for coronavirus.
The disadvantages of these studies are that the sampling size is small, and the methods used for detection are also different
Researcher
Nevertheless, the survey that was conducted could illustrate that the study for coronavirus in dogs, cats, and pigs had indeed been carried out in several countries.
Although the results of the survey were negative, the incidence of infections caused by coronaviruses has also been reported
Researcher
Coronavirus infections in cats that have been reported are similar to those caused by Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP).