THE ROLE OF COMPANION ANIMALS IN SPREADING COVID-19.

Objective: In the twenty-first century, despite the development in infection management, and improvement of vaccines and therapeutic agents in the field of health, new viral outbreaks that can still be fatal in humans and animals are emerging. The infection of zoonosis COVID-19 from bat origin, the intermediate host of which is still being unclear, has appeared in people who visited animal bazaar in December 2019, in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization declared this infection a pandemic in February 2020. Millions of people have been affected by this pandemic. The fight against the pandemic has had a great economic cost and continues to do so. Even people have changed their lifestyle. In this context, there have been concerns about companion animals with COVID-19 transmission, from human to animal or animal to human. The purpose of this review was to examine the studies on the presence and transmission of COVID-19 in companion animals such as cats, dogs, hamsters and horses. Result and Discussion: It has been reported in studies that most of the companion animals (cat, dog and hamster) were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, and humans could be a source of infection for them. However, the potential role of companion animals in transmission to humans is not fully known. It is clear from this pandemic that the necessity of epidemiological investigation of infectious agents, especially zoonotic ones, in one health concept has emerged once again.Copyright © 2022 University of Ankara. All rights reserved.

Providing pandemic business interruption coverage with double trigger cat bonds.

The aim of this paper is to show how qualified investors in cat bonds can offer adequate pandemic business interruption protection in a comprehensive public-private coverage scheme. First, we propose a numerical model to expose how cat bonds can contribute to complement standard re/insurance by improving coverage of cedents even though risks are positively correlated during a pandemic. Second, we introduce double trigger pandemic business interruption cat bonds, which we name PBI bonds, and discuss their precise characteristics to provide efficient coverage. A first trigger should be pulled when the World Health Organization declares a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The second trigger determines the payout of the bond based on the modelised business interruption losses of an industry in a country. We discuss moral hazard, basis risk, correlation and liquidity issues which are critical in the context of a pandemic. Third, we simulate the life of theoretical PBI bonds in the restaurant industry in France by using data gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diagnostic utility of LDH measurement for determining the etiology of modified transudate pleural effusion in cats.

Fluid analysis is an initial approach for determining the underlying causes of body cavity effusions. Modified transudate is commonly diagnosed in pleural effusion in cats, however, it provides limited diagnostic information. Aims of this study were to investigate common etiologies causing different pleural fluid types and to evaluate the usefulness of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) for differentiating the etiology in modified transudates in cats. Pleural effusion samples from 122 cats were analyzed and classified into three types: transudate, modified transudate, and exudate. Causes of pleural effusion were classified into four conditions: cardiac disease, neoplasia, feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), and pyothorax. The relationship of underlying etiology and fluid types was described. The LDH levels in pleural fluid and plasma were compared between the causes in the samples classified as modified transudate. The fluid analysis of pleural effusion showed that modified transudate was the most common fluid type (44.2%). Neoplasia was predominantly diagnosed (38.5%) as the etiology of pleural effusion. There was no significant correlation between pleural fluid and plasma LDH level in any type of pleural fluid, suggesting that pleural fluid LDH does not appear to be affected by plasma LDH. The occurrence of modified transudate was not associated to its etiologies, however, the LDH level in modified transudates showed significant differences between etiologic groups. The LDH level in modified transudate was excellent in separating cardiac from non-cardiac diseases with a cut-off value of <535 U/L and separating FIP from non-FIP diseases with a cut-off value of >641 U/L. Based on the current findings, pleural fluid LDH can be a useful adjunctive marker for differentiating some causes of modified transudate pleural effusion and should be added in the routine diagnostic work-up of feline patients with pleural effusions.

COVID-19 associated reduction in elective spay-neuter surgeries for dogs and cats.

The rise in subsidized spay-neuter access helped drive the euthanasia of shelter pets in the US from an estimated 13. 5 million in 1973 to 1.5 million in 2019. When the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered lockdowns beginning in March 2020, many veterinary providers suspended nonessential services such as routine spay-neuter surgeries. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volume of spay-neuter procedures performed by spay-neuter clinics. A retrospective study of patient data from 212 spay-neuter clinics using Clinic HQ practice management software was conducted from January 2019 through December 2021. The clinics collectively performed 1,217,240 surgeries in the pre-COVID baseline year of 2019. A sharp decline in surgeries began in March 2020 (-22%) and reached a nadir in April 2020 (-80%). Surgeries began to increase in May 2020 (-39%), before plateauing in July 2020 (-6%) and remaining slightly below the 2019 baseline in most months through the end of 2021. Compared to 2019, total surgeries decreased 13% to 1,059,388 in 2020 and decreased 3% to 1,184,274 in 2021. In 2020, when clinic disruptions were highest, the impact of the surgery cutbacks varied by geographic region, species, age, and source of animals. Compared with 2019, in 2020 surgeries decreased 17% in the Midwest region, 15% in the Northeast and West, and 11% in the South. Surgeries were reduced 19% in dogs and 10% in cats. When grouped by age, surgeries were reduced by 18% in geriatrics, 14% in adults, and 11% in juveniles. Reductions were similar for females (-14%) and males (-12%) and similar for unowned/organization-owned animals (-14%) and privately owned animals (-12%). In total, 190,818 fewer surgeries were performed by the 212 studied clinics in the 24 months from January 2020 through December 2021 than would be expected had 2019 levels been maintained. If a similar pattern was experienced by other spay/neuter providers in the US, it would suggest there is a deficit of more than 2.7 million spay/neuter surgeries that animal welfare organizations have yet to address.

Secure NIfTI Image Authentication Scheme for Modern Healthcare System

Advances in digital neuroimaging technologies, i.e., MRI and CT scan technology, have radically changed illness diagnosis in the global healthcare system. Digital imaging technologies produce NIfTI images after scanning the patient's body. COVID-19 spared on a worldwide effort to detect the lung infection. CT scans have been performed on billions of COVID-19 patients in recent years, resulting in a massive amount of NIfTI images being produced and communicated over the internet for diagnosis. The dissemination of these medical photographs over the internet has resulted in a significant problem for the healthcare system to maintain its integrity, protect its intellectual property rights, and address other ethical considerations. Another significant issue is how radiologists recognize tempered medical images, sometimes leading to the wrong diagnosis. Thus, the healthcare system requires a robust and reliable watermarking method for these images. Several image watermarking approaches for .jpg, .dcm, .png, .bmp, and other image formats have been developed, but no substantial contribution to NIfTI images (.nii format) has been made. This research suggests a hybrid watermarking method for NIfTI images that employs Slantlet Transform (SLT), Lifting Wavelet Transform (LWT), and Arnold Cat Map. The suggested technique performed well against various attacks. Compared to earlier approaches, the results show that this method is more robust and invisible.

Zooanthropogenic potential of SARS-CoV-2 virus: Implications for vaccine-mediated immunity

The human pandemic caused by Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that started in December, 2019 is still continuing in various parts of the world. The SARS-CoV-2 has evolved through sporadic mutations and recombination events and the emergence of alternate variants following adaptations in humans and human-to-animal transmission (zooanthraponosis) has raised concerns over the efficacy of vaccines against new variants. The animal reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 is unknown despite reports of SARS-CoV- 2-related viruses in bats and pangolins. A recent report of back-andforth transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between humans and minks on mink farms in the Netherlands has sparked widespread interest in zooanthroponotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 followed by reemergence to infect human populations. The risk of animal to human transmission depends on virus-host interaction in susceptible species that may be short-term or long term risks. The short term risk might be due to infection to humans during the viremic stage in susceptible animals. The long term risk might be either due to persistence of the virus at population level or latency of infection leading to risk of evolution and re-emergence of the virus. Experimental studies have identified a range of animals that are susceptible and permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection viz. cats, ferrets, hamsters, mink, non-human primates, tree shrews, raccoon dogs, fruit bats, and rabbits. The health impacts of SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals are unknown and it is likely that other susceptible species have not been discovered yet. Apart from farmed animals, stray cats and rodents have been identified as a potential opportunity for ongoing transmission in intense farming situations. Recognizing animal species that are most susceptible to infection is the first step in preventing ongoing transmission from humans. Minimizing the risk of zooanthraponosis requires multi-sectoral coordination that includes implementation of strict biosecurity measures such as controlled access to farms that house susceptible animals, bio-secure entry and exit protocols, disinfection protocols in farm, down time for animal transport vehicles and daily assessments of human handlers for exposure to SARS-CoV- 2. Hence, active surveillance in animal species that are prioritized based on risk assessment need to be initiated in coordination with health and environment sectors for early identification of emerging and re-emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus in animals.

Development of PCR diagnostic method for Trichomonas foetus infection based on 18S rRNA.

To establish a PCR detection method for Trichomonas foetus, the primers were designed and synthesized according to the 18S rRNA gene sequence of T. foetus published by GenBank. The positive recombinant plasmid pUCm-T-TF18S of T. foetus was used as the template, and the genomic DNA of Giardia felis, Coccidia +e-lis, feline parvovirus and cDNA of feline coronavirus were used as the control for PCR detection to analyze the specificity of this method. The positive T. foetus recombinant plasmid was serial to 8 different concentrations with a gap of 10 folds, and PCR was performed to analyze the sensitivity of this method. The pUCm-T-TF18S plasmids stored at -20 " for 3, 6, 9 and 12 months were detected by PCR to analyze the stability of the method. Twenty cat fecal samples were tested using this established PCR assay and compared with those of microscopic examination. The results showed that the recombinant plasmid pUCm-T- TF18S gave specific bands after PCR amplification. The sequencing results showed that the length of the product sequence was 1 264 bp, and the BLAST sequence comparison analysis showed 99.53% sequence identity, which is consistent with that of T. foetus from cats (GenBank registration number M81842.1). The PCR method for detection of T. foetus had no cross-reactivities with C. felis, G. felis, feline coronavirus and feline parvovirus;the minimum detectable template concentration is 4.52 X 105 copies/xl;The target band of T. foetus DNA can still be detected after being stored in the refrigerator at -20 " for 12 months. This method detected 16 positive samples of T. foetus nucleic acid from 20 cat fecal samples, which is more accurate and sensitive than the results from traditional microscopy (13 samples). It is suggested that the PCR method for the detection of T. foetus is highly specific, sensitive and stable, and can be used for clinical detection and epidemiological investigation of T. foetus.Copyright © 2022, National Institute of Parasitic Diseases. All rights reserved.

Optimized DEC: An effective cough detection framework using optimal weighted Features-aided deep Ensemble classifier for COVID-19.

Since the year 2019, the entire world has been facing the most hazardous and contagious disease as Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Based on the symptoms, the virus can be identified and diagnosed. Amongst, cough is the primary syndrome to detect COVID-19. Existing method requires a long processing time. Early screening and detection is a complex task. To surmount the research drawbacks, a novel ensemble-based deep learning model is designed on heuristic development. The prime intention of the designed work is to detect COVID-19 disease using cough audio signals. At the initial stage, the source signals are fetched and undergo for signal decomposition phase by Empirical Mean Curve Decomposition (EMCD). Consequently, the decomposed signal is called "Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), spectral features, and statistical features". Further, all three features are fused and provide the optimal weighted features with the optimal weight value with the help of "Modified Cat and Mouse Based Optimizer (MCMBO)". Lastly, the optimal weighted features are fed as input to the Optimized Deep Ensemble Classifier (ODEC) that is fused together with various classifiers such as "Radial Basis Function (RBF), Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM), and Deep Neural Network (DNN)". In order to attain the best detection results, the parameters in ODEC are optimized by the MCMBO algorithm. Throughout the validation, the designed method attains 96% and 92% concerning accuracy and precision. Thus, result analysis elucidates that the proposed work achieves the desired detective value that aids practitioners to early diagnose COVID-19 ailments.

Clinicopathological and Radiological Features of Cats Presented with Infectious Respiratory Disease Signs: A Focus on Rhodococcus equi and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of involvement of common viral organisms R. equi and K. pneumoniae and their clinicopathological and radiological features in respiratory disease of Malaysian domestic cats. A total of 34 feline cases with acute/chronic infectious respiratory disease signs were followed prospectively to investigate respiratory disease due to R. equi and K. pneumoniae and their relationship with concurrent viral infections in disease manifestation. All sampled cats (n = 27) were positive for FCoV antibodies and negative for FeLV. A significantly high antibody titer for FCV in n = 26 cases was also noticed. A single sample of pyothorax from a 3-months-old, non-vaccinated kitten was positive for R. equi. Bronchopneumonia with severe infiltration of the polymorphs and mononuclear inflammatory cells were prominent features of lungs histopathology from the kitten positive for R. equi. K. pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae was confirmed from tracheal swabs of two cats. Histologically, the tracheal tissues of the two cats positive for K. pneumoniae were normal. In diagnostic imaging, epicenter of the infectious URT disease was nasal conchae rostrally and nasal turbinates caudally, however for infectious LRT disease was bronchial tree. Conclusively, infectious respiratory disease is a complex illness in cats, predominantly for unvaccinated kittens and young adult cats, especially those kept in multi-cat household or shelter environments because of the involvement of multiple bacterial and viral organisms as primary or secondary invaders. Clinicians should not preclude feline rhodococcosis from differentials, especially in kittens with pyothorax and less than one year of age. Unlike R. equi, K. pneumoniae has the potential to colonize URT of cats which might be disseminating further to cause LRT disease.

The infectious peritonitis Literature review

The authors summarize the current knowledge about FIP (feline infectious peritonitis) using the latest scientific literature and their own experiences. The feline coronaviruses, both the feline enteric coronavirus (FECV) and the FIP virus (FIPV) belong to the same Alphacoronavirus 1 species, in the Alphacoronavirus genus within the Coronaviridae family, and infect wild and domestic felids. FIPV is the mutated form of the ubiquitous and contagious feline enteric coronavirus, which, in contrast, causes a fatal and non-infectious illness. The lethal disease develops in only a subset of infected cats as a result of complex immunopathological processes. The clinical manifestation of the disease is very diverse. the effusive form ("wet form") has a more rapid course than the non-effusive form ("dry form"). However, these two main manifestations are rather the endpoints of a continuum of diseases. Macroscopically the wet form is characterized by effusions in the serosal cavities, and the dry form by perivascular (pyo)granulomas in the organs. The most characteristic histoogical lesions are granulomatou's to necrotizing vasculitis in the wet form, and vasocentric pyogranulomatous inflammation in the dry form. Ante-mortem diagnosis of the disease is challenging yet extremely important, partially because of recent successes in therapy. The most reliable diagnosis is likely to be made only post-mortem, but a properly constructed diagnostic workflow can be similarly effective. Although the active substances of previous successful therapies are relatively easily available, they are not approved for veterinary use. In the absence of an effective vaccine, prevention is based mainly on epidemiological considerations and the reduction of stressors that unnecessarily affect the cats. Presenting the example of FIP and COVID-19, it is perfectly understandable why the experience of different drugs in the treatment of animal coronaviral infections can be of tremendous value in preparing their use in human experiments.

Covid-19 Forecasting Using CNN Approach With A Halbinomial Distribution And A Linear Decreasing Inertia Weight-Based Cat Swarm Optimization

In recent times, the COVID-19 epidemic has spread to over 170 nations. Authorities all around the world are feeling the strain of COVID-19 since the total of infected people is rising as well as they does not familiar to handle the problem. The majority of current research effort is thus being directed on the analysis of COVID-19 data within the framework of the machines learning method. Researchers looked the COVID 19 data to make predictions about who would be treated, who would die, and who would get infected in the future. This might prompt governments worldwide to develop strategies for protecting the health of the public. Previous systems rely on Long Short -Term Memory (LSTM) networks for predicting new instances of COVID-19. The LSTM network findings suggest that the pandemic might be over by June of 2020. However, LSTM may have an over-fitting issue, and it may fall short of expectations in terms of true positive. For this issue in COVID-19 forecasting, we suggest using two methods such as Cat Swarm Optimization (CSO) for reducing the inertia weight linearly and then artificial intelligence based binomial distribution is used. In this proposed study, we take the COVID-19 predicting database as an contribution and normalise it using the min-max approach. The accuracy of classification is improved with the use of the first method to choose the optimal features. In this method, inertia weight is added to the CSO optimization algorithm convergence. Death and confirmed cases are predicted for a certain time period throughout India using Convolutional Neural Network with Partial Binomial Distribution based on carefully chosen characteristics. The experimental findings validate that the suggested scheme performs better than the baseline system in terms of f-measure, recall, precision, and accuracy.

Outcomes of chronic spontaneous urticaria in a patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and SARS-Cov- 2 infection: Efficacy of treatment with omalizumab

Case report Background: Association of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) with malignancies and worsening of urticaria during COVID-19 have been reported. The efficacy of treatment of CSU with omalizumab in the context of malignancies or COVID-19 is not well established. Method(s): Case report of a patient followed for 9 years with CSU. Data collected from Medical Records and interviews during consultations. Result(s): Female, 29 years-old, came to clinic in 2013 for investigation, diagnosed with CSU. She also presented mild asthma, allergic rhinitis and history of urticaria after taking amoxicillin. She had a positive autologous serum skin test, and positive skin tests to dust mite, cat, cockroach, peanut and milk. Her total IgE was 227IU/ mL. Anti-nuclear and anti-thyroid antibodies were negative;ERS 13mm, blood eosinophils 300/mm3, and stool exam negative for parasites. She showed no response to second generation antihistamines up to fourfold doses, with UCT < 6 and CU-QoL = 89. After 6 months, omalizumab was added at 300 mg subcutaneously, every 4 weeks. The patient showed immediate reactions after the two applications of omalizumab: first, diffuse pruritus and throat tightness;second, worsening of urticaria and pruritus, requiring iv medications. Treatment with omalizumab was stopped, she was kept on fourfold dose of bilastine with partial control of symptoms. In 2016, she presented worsening of urticaria (UCT = 1), weight loss of 6kg/2 months, daily fever and enlarged cervical lymph nodes, and was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Following chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone and rituximab, she presented complete resolution of urticaria. Two years after remission of the lymphoma, in 2019, she presented recurrence of urticaria, and treatment with fourfold dose of bilastine was reinitiated with control of symptoms (UCT = 16). Investigation ruled out recurrence of lymphoma. In May 2021, she was diagnosed with SARS-CoV- 2 infection. Symptoms of COVID-19 were runny nose and low grade fever, however urticaria got worse and no longer responsive to bilastine. Treatment with omalizumab was attempted, with no reactions and good efficacy after the first dose, with an UCT = 15, and urticaria remains controlled on treatment with omalizumab to present. Conclusion(s): In this report, we highlight the efficacy and safety of using omalizumab in a patient with refractory CSU associated with neoplasia and SARS-CoV- 2 infection.

Traditional herbal medicine in the treatment of patients infected with new coronavirus

The purposes of this review was in the direction of epidemiology, causative agents, symptoms, vaccine research probabilities and COVID-19 infection novel Corona viruses that was investigated in China. The COVID-19 has surrounded viruses along with a practical sensation one stranded RNA genome and a nucleocapsid of helical uniformity. The COVID-19 is an enormous family of viruses that are prevalent in a public and large number of species of animals including hens, camels, bats, cat, and cattle. Human corona viruses can cause gentle disorder identical to a common cough, cold, while others reason more acute disease MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Thus spreading the COVID-19 should be closely investigated to recognize the growth of particularly virulent strains in society at an early stage and to simplify the evolution of enough preventive and therapeutic measurements.Copyright © 2021, Health Biotechnology and Biopharma. All rights reserved.

Human-to-Animal Transmission of SARS-CoV-2, South Korea, 2021.

To investigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission from humans to animals in Seoul, South Korea, we submitted samples from companion animals owned by persons with confirmed COVID-19. Real-time PCR indicated higher SARS-CoV-2 viral infection rates for dogs and cats than previously reported from the United States and Europe. Host-specific adaptations could introduce mutant SARS-CoV-2 to humans.

Development of the pet owner connectedness scale (POCS)

Studies that have reported on the loneliness protective effect of pet ownership have recently been called into question owing to methodological drawbacks, including the use of inappropriate scales of measurement for loneliness in pet owner samples. It has also been recently demonstrated that pet interactions may only influence positive, not negative, human affect. In light of these recent advances, the current study aimed to create a new scale focusing on the inverse experience of loneliness: connectedness. An initial 24-item scale was developed using qualitative data collected from our previous study investigating the impact of pet ownership for Australians living alone during a government-enforced lockdown in response to COVID-19. Study 1 included 934 dog and cat owners who self-selected into the online study. Factor analyses revealed two distinct factors, and only items that loaded uniquely on one factor were retained. Study 2 included 526 dog and cat owners who self-selected into the online study, which confirmed the two-factor structure and established validity and reliability of the scale. The result was a 14-item Pet Owner Connectedness Scale (POCS) with two subscales: (i) owner-pet connection, and (ii) connectedness through pet. Hence, we present evidence for a new scale that can be used to measure the positive social states of connectedness that owners may gain from their pets. This may provide a good alternative to more traditional methods such as measuring the buffering effect pets have on negative social states such as loneliness. It may also offer a more robust method to measure the impact of pet interactions on their owners. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Comparison of Clinical and Laboratory Findings at Different Clinical Stages in Cats Naturally Infected with Feline Coronavirus

Feline coronavirus (FCoV) infections occur commonly in cats, with entrocyte and monocyte-macrophage tropism. Most FCoV-infected cats remain asymp tomatic, but up to 10% develop fatal feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). This study aims to investigate the diagnostic utility of clinical and laboratory examinations including serum and effusion AGP levels in cats either with symptomatic effusive FIP or asymptomatic feline enteric coronavirus (FECV). The study included 40 cats with effusive FIP and 10 cats with FECV infection. The FIP group was divided into two subgroups: Abdominal (AE;n=30) and thoracic effusion (TE;n=10). Clinical and laboratory examinations, including serum or effusion AGP measurement, were performed. Among all the groups, TE group had higher body temperature, heart and respiratory rates (P<0.000). Compared with the FECV group, the FIP group had lower pH and HCO3 levels and higher base excess and lactate levels (P<0.05). The leukocyte and lymphocyte counts were higher and the hematocrit was lower in the AE group among all the groups (P<0.023). MCV was lower in the FIP group compared to the FECV group (P<0.002). In the AE group, total protein level was the lowest and the AST, GGT, total bilirubin and cholesterol levels were the highest (P<0.032) among all the groups. Magnesium level was lower in the FIP group compared to the FECV group (P<0.044). Although the serum AGP level was highest in the TE group among all groups (P<0.004), the AGP levels of cats with FECV were similar to the AE group (P>0.05). Since FECV-positive cats will likely develop FIP, differences in clinical and laboratory findings in FECV-positive cats were identified. Among them, pH, HCO3, base excess, lactate, MCV and magnesium were found to be important in the course of the disease, and AGP in the evaluation of the presence of an inflammatory state. It was concluded that clinical, laboratory and serum AGP evaluation could be used in the index of suspicion of development of FIP and FECV.Copyright © 2023 Erdem Gulersoy et al., published by Sciendo.

Differentiating infectious from non-infectious respiratory disease in the cat and dog

This paper describes the clinical signs and use of differential laboratory diagnostic techniques (computed tomography, cytology, histopathology, antigen/antibody detection and polymerase chain reaction) for infectious (viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic) and non-infectious (inflammatory/immune mediated, neoplastic, cardiac, malformation, foreign body, smoke inhalation, aspiration of caustic material, non-cardiogenic, pulmonary oedema, traumativ, pneumothorax, pulmonary contusions and idiopathic) causes of respiratory diseases in cats and dogs in Ontario, Canada.

THE ROLE OF COMPANION ANIMALS IN SPREADING COVID-19.

Objective: In the twenty-first century, despite the development in infection management, and improvement of vaccines and therapeutic agents in the field of health, new viral outbreaks that can still be fatal in humans and animals are emerging. The infection of zoonosis COVID-19 from bat origin, the intermediate host of which is still being unclear, has appeared in people who visited animal bazaar in December 2019, in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization declared this infection a pandemic in February 2020. Millions of people have been affected by this pandemic. The fight against the pandemic has had a great economic cost and continues to do so. Even people have changed their lifestyle. In this context, there have been concerns about companion animals with COVID-19 transmission, from human to animal or animal to human. The purpose of this review was to examine the studies on the presence and transmission of COVID-19 in companion animals such as cats, dogs, hamsters and horses. Result and Discussion: It has been reported in studies that most of the companion animals (cat, dog and hamster) were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, and humans could be a source of infection for them. However, the potential role of companion animals in transmission to humans is not fully known. It is clear from this pandemic that the necessity of epidemiological investigation of infectious agents, especially zoonotic ones, in one health concept has emerged once again.Copyright © 2022 University of Ankara. All rights reserved.

THE ROLE OF COMPANION ANIMALS IN SPREADING COVID-19.

Objective: In the twenty-first century, despite the development in infection management, and improvement of vaccines and therapeutic agents in the field of health, new viral outbreaks that can still be fatal in humans and animals are emerging. The infection of zoonosis COVID-19 from bat origin, the intermediate host of which is still being unclear, has appeared in people who visited animal bazaar in December 2019, in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization declared this infection a pandemic in February 2020. Millions of people have been affected by this pandemic. The fight against the pandemic has had a great economic cost and continues to do so. Even people have changed their lifestyle. In this context, there have been concerns about companion animals with COVID-19 transmission, from human to animal or animal to human. The purpose of this review was to examine the studies on the presence and transmission of COVID-19 in companion animals such as cats, dogs, hamsters and horses. Result and Discussion: It has been reported in studies that most of the companion animals (cat, dog and hamster) were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, and humans could be a source of infection for them. However, the potential role of companion animals in transmission to humans is not fully known. It is clear from this pandemic that the necessity of epidemiological investigation of infectious agents, especially zoonotic ones, in one health concept has emerged once again.Copyright © 2022 University of Ankara. All rights reserved.