New COVID-19 Variant Possibly Linked To Pets' Heart Problems

Earlier COVID-19 variants have been known to produce respiratory symptoms such as sneezing, coughing and runny nose in infected pet cats and dogs. Now researchers report a possibly concerning symptom of the B117 (U.K.) variant in pets: heart problems.

It was in December when the U.K. variant was first detected in Kent County. Despite rigorous restrictions, it has become the dominant variant in the U.K.

Like the earlier variants, this one appears to also affect pets. In a new study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, researchers reported the "first cases" of the U.K. variant infection in pet cats and dogs.

Heart Problems In Pets

It began when veterinarians at the Ralph Veterinary Referral Center noticed a surge in cases of pets with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, from December to February, reported The Guardian.

It wasn't a huge number of pets, but the surge coincided with the surge in human cases brought about by the U.K. variant.

None of the pets had a history of heart problems and most of the pet owners with myocarditis had developed respiratory COVID-19 symptoms in three to six weeks before the pets fell ill, the researchers said.

Upon testing the 11 animals with myocarditis, two cats and one dog tested positive in their rectal samples. Two other cats and another dog also tested positive in the blood samples, The Guardian said.

However, these pets did not display respiratory symptoms like the other pets that had tested positive for the virus earlier, the researchers wrote. Instead, they had "atypical" symptoms, including "severe cardiac abnormalities secondary to myocarditis."

All but one of the pets improved and recovered well with a few days of intensive care. The one pet that did not recover was a cat that relapsed and had to be euthanized.

Don't Panic

"To our knowledge, this is the first report of infection of both cats and dogs by the British B.1.1.7 138 variant of SARS-CoV-2," the researchers wrote, noting that myocarditis has been observed as a COVID-19 complication in humans as well, likely from an "exaggerated immune response."

But whether it was the virus that actually caused the heart issues in pets still hasn't been demonstrated, Slash Gear noted.

"We don't want to spread panic unnecessarily, especially because at the moment we have a strong suspicion of transmission from human to pet, but not vice versa – and we don't know this for sure," research lead Luca Ferasin of RVRC said. "But vets ought to be aware of this so that they can start testing if they suspect a potential case of Covid infection."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is so far no evidence that animals play a significant role in the spread of COVID-19. To date, SARSCoV-2's main means of spreading remains to be from person-to-person via respiratory droplets when they talk, laugh, cough or sneeze.

"Based on the limited information available to date, the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be low," the agency said. "People with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should avoid contact with animals, including pets, livestock, and wildlife."

Prof. Margaret Hosie of the University of Glasgow's Centre for Virus Research also noted that it's "impossible to rule out the possibility" that the viral shedding was simply incidental.

"The message to pet owners is the same – if you have Covid-19 then be aware that it can be transmitted to pets, so avoid contact with your pet and, if that is not possible, then wear a mask, for example when preparing the pet's food," Hosie said.

This way, humans can also protect their pets from getting infected.