Scientists from Prince of Songkla University in Thailand documented and confirmed the first case of a human contracting COVID-19 from a pet. This incident occurred in Bangkok, where a father and son exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 and were hospitalized. Their cat was taken to a veterinary clinic for examination, as reported by the newspaper "Izvestia." When the veterinarian attempted to take a swab from the cat, it sneezed in his face, and tests showed that the cat was infected with the novel coronavirus. A week later, the veterinarian exhibited symptoms of COVID-19.
The transmission from the cat to the veterinarian was confirmed since none of his family members, relatives, or work colleagues had contracted the disease. Moreover, the cat had never interacted with other infected pets. Genomic sequencing showed that "the cat, its owners, and the veterinarian all contracted the same strain of the novel coronavirus, which was circulating among the population at that time. Based on this, the doctors realized that the cat, its owners, and the veterinarian were infected from a single source."
Experts emphasize that "the risk of transmission from pets to humans remains low, although this cannot be entirely ruled out." Alexander Shabikin, the head of the Epidemiology Laboratory at the All-Russian Experimental Veterinary Medicine Research Institute, stated that "one case cannot be relied upon for scientific conclusions, as there must be at least a few dozen similar cases."
