"WHAT YOU SAY!"
Posted on 10/29/2003 3:38:05 PM PST by blam
Cats 'can catch and pass on Sars'
Medical researchers have found cats can catch Sars and pass it on to other animals.
A team of US scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston say the finding raises the question of whether cats can pass the virus to humans.
Researcher Dr Robert Shope, an expert on emerging diseases, said: "You might want to quarantine the pets as well as the people. If it's been shown that the virus can transmit from cat to cat, it doesn't take much of a leap of faith that it will transmit to humans."
However, other scientists who have studied Sars say pet owners shouldn't overreact. The World Health Organisation's chief Sars scientist, D. Klaus Stohr, said: "These animals in all likelihood did not play a significant role in the spread of Sars to humans."
The Galveston researchers - whose study appears in the journal Nature, inoculated six cats and six ferrets with the virus cultured from a person who died of Sars, adding drops that contained the virus into their trachea, eyes and nose.
The cats and ferrets began to show their infection two days later in excretions from the throat, and researchers found they produced antibodies within 28 days. When the animals were later put down, the virus also was found in their respiratory tract.
The cats did not appear to be affected by the virus, but they did develop a mild case of pneumonia. The ferrets became lethargic, and one of them died four days after it was inoculated. Scientists also placed two healthy cats and two healthy ferrets with the infected animals.
The healthy ferrets showed signs of Sars infection after two days. The ferrets became emaciated and eventually died about two weeks later, though Osterhaus said he is uncertain whether this was due to the virus.
The virus seems to be so versatile that it could have jumped to humans from a variety of animals, co-author Albert DME Osterhaus said. The study also notes a separate report that cats were found infected with the virus in a Hong Kong apartment complex where residents contracted Sars last year.
The origin of the virus that killed 774 people remains unknown. In China exotic imported animals like raccoon-dogs and ferret badgers have been found harbouring a germ that's almost identical. The exotic animals were taken off the market for several months, but some have reportedly begun selling them again.
© Associated Press
Story filed: 18:09 Wednesday 29th October 2003
Don't know about SARS, they do carry hanta virus. I have a little mouse living in my truck. Hmmmm
"WHAT YOU SAY!"
She has babies too. I saw her run across the floorboard yesterday and she had 3-4 babies hanging onto her teats. I looked everywhere in there but I can't find her, she's about the size of your thumb. If I trap her, the babies will die and then smell up the truck. I've decided to let them grow up and then trap them all in a non-injurious trap and release them on Mon Luis Island, so they won't come back. So, there!
(That's what happens when you live in the deep woods.) I have alligators too.
From my profile page: "I like my guns although I don't hunt, I consider all the critters around here my friends. I am to the right of most people I know. Always call before you come. "
What about other animals that have coronavirus diseases, like rats, for example?
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