COVID-19 has impacted all of our lives, but it can also impact the lives of animals.
Food animals outnumber Americans by a significant amount with just under 100 million head of cattle, 75 million hogs, and billions of chickens in the United States. Here is what the current research says about animals getting COVID-19.
A recent German study infected six cows with COVID-19. Two tested positive, showing that the virus had taken hold in their bodies. Other coronaviruses have been found in cattle before, and the"bovine coronaviruses” fairly common. Ther German study noted that there is no evidence at the moment to indicate that cattle can spread COVID-19 back to humans.
Hogs also have a history of their own types of coronaviruses which are fairly common and attack the small intestine of hogs. To this point, COVID-19 has not been found in hogs and studies show that it may not be possible for hogs to contract it. It is, however, possible for COVID-19 to mutate and spread through hogs, though that has not happened yet.
Chickens were not shown to be able to contract COVID-19 at all after they were tested under the same study as cattle.
Cats and dogs are not meat animals in the US but are found on farms as hearing animals, pest control, or pets. Studies have shown that cats can get COVID-19 and can also spread it to other cats. COVID-19 in cats foes does not seem to cause any symptoms, however. There has been no data showing cats can spread COVID-19 to other species.
The same can be said of dogs. Some studies have shown that dogs have contracted COVID-19 from their owners, and can spread it to other dogs. There is no sign that dogs with COVID-19 become sick. Studies show that they are not able to pass it to humans as of now.