Strays pick up Covid-19 in Brazil

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-03-30 11:00

International

Credit: Dr Alex Pauvolid-Côrrea and Dr Helver Dias

A stray cat and dog in Brazil are likely to have had Covid-19 earlier in the pandemic, scientists say. The researchers tested 96 stray and domestic cats and dogs across the country, finding just two animals tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies. They say that these stray animals may have picked up the virus from a contaminated environment, rather than from contact with infected humans or other infected animals.

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Cat blood collection

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conference: PLOS One

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Organisation/s: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil

Funder: This study was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), grant number 302462/2018-0 to FBS and to MAMTS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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