Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on animals

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Dogs are capable of becoming infected with COVID-19. They are also capable of cheering up lonely caretakers during lockdowns.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected animals directly and indirectly. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is zoonotic, which likely to have originated from animals such as bats and pangolins.[1][2][3] Human impact on wildlife and animal habitats may be causing such spillover events to become much more likely.[4][5] The largest incident to date was the culling of 14 to 17 million mink in Denmark after it was discovered that they were infected with a mutant strain of the virus.[6][7]

While research is inconclusive, pet owners reported that their animals contributed to better mental health and lower loneliness during COVID-19 lockdowns.[8][9] However, this could have adverse effects on pet animals.[10]

Background[edit]

SARS-CoV-2 is believed to have zoonotic origins and has close genetic similarity to bat coronaviruses, suggesting it emerged from a bat-borne virus.[11][12][13][14]

Cases[edit]

A small number of pet animals have been infected. There have been several cases of zoo animals testing positive for the virus, and some became sick. Cats, dogs, ferrets, fruit bats, gorillas, hamsters, minks, sea otters, pumas, snow leopards, tigers, and tree shrews can be infected with and have tested positive at least once for the virus.[3] According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of transmission from animals to humans and vice versa is considerably low but further studies are yet to be conducted.[3]

Animal deaths due to the disease are confirmed to have occurred.[15]

Mink[edit]

Further information: Cluster 5
A mink

Cluster 5, a variant of SARS-CoV-2, was found in mink populations and some employees in North Jutland, Denmark in early November 2020. The Danish government culled an estimated 14 million mink as a preventive measure.[16][17] A wild mink in Utah was discovered to be infected with COVID-19, confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.[18]

Human–animal interaction[edit]

Reduced human presence has the potential to bring both relief and disruption to different animal habitats. It may lead to more poaching of endangered wildlife.[19] Wild animals have been observed relaxing their avoidance of human habitats while COVID-19 lockdowns are in effect.[20] Decreased roadkill incidence has been reported during lockdowns, including a significant decrease in roadkill deaths for mountain lions in California.[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Daly, Natasha (25 August 2020). "COVID-19's impact on the animal kingdom—so far". National Geographic. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  2. ^ Frutos, Roger; Serra-Cobo, Jordi; Chen, Tianmu; Devaux, Christian A. (5 August 2020). "COVID-19: Time to exonerate the pangolin from the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans". Infection, Genetics and Evolution: Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics in Infectious Diseases. 84: 104493. doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104493. PMC 7405773. PMID 32768565.
  3. ^ a b c CDC (11 February 2020). "COVID-19 and Your Health". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Coronavirus pandemic linked to destruction of wildlife and world's ecosystem". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  5. ^ Johnson, Christine K.; Hitchens, Peta L.; Pandit, Pranav S.; Rushmore, Julie; Evans, Tierra Smiley; Young, Cristin C. W.; Doyle, Megan M. (8 April 2020). "Global shifts in mammalian population trends reveal key predictors of virus spillover risk". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287 (1924): 20192736. doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.2736. PMC 7209068. PMID 32259475.
  6. ^ Dean, Grace (5 November 2020). "Denmark says it will cull 17 million mink after discovering a mutated strain of COVID-19 that officials fear could 'restart' the entire global pandemic". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  7. ^ Finnemann Scheel, Agnete (5 November 2020). "Ny corona-mutation er en kæp i hjulet på vaccinen: Det ved vi om 'cluster 5'" (in Danish). DR. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Pets linked to maintaining better mental health and reducing loneliness during lockdown, new research shows". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Pets and the pandemic: the impact our animals had on our mental health and wellbeing". The Conversation. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Pets are helping us cope during the pandemic—but that may be stressing them out". National Geographic. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  11. ^ Zhou P, Yang XL, Wang XG, Hu B, Zhang L, Zhang W, et al. (February 2020). "A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin". Nature. 579 (7798): 270–273. Bibcode:2020Natur.579..270Z. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7. PMC 7095418. PMID 32015507.
  12. ^ Perlman S (February 2020). "Another Decade, Another Coronavirus". The New England Journal of Medicine. 382 (8): 760–762. doi:10.1056/NEJMe2001126. PMC 7121143. PMID 31978944.
  13. ^ Benvenuto D, Giovanetti M, Ciccozzi A, Spoto S, Angeletti S, Ciccozzi M (April 2020). "The 2019-new coronavirus epidemic: Evidence for virus evolution". Journal of Medical Virology. 92 (4): 455–459. doi:10.1002/jmv.25688. PMC 7166400. PMID 31994738.
  14. ^ Andersen KG, Rambaut A, Lipkin WI, Holmes EC, Garry RF (17 March 2020). "Correspondence: The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2". Nature Medicine. 26 (4): 450–452. doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9. PMC 7095063. PMID 32284615.
  15. ^ Fenster, Jordan (9 October 2020). "Analysis: 6 animal species dying because of COVID". Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  16. ^ "SARS-CoV-2 mink-associated variant strain – Denmark". World Health Organization. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  17. ^ Simmons, Dan. "Mink farmers are skipping to the front of the vaccine line — for an important reason". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  18. ^ "What Happens If COVID-19 Infects Wild Animals?". Tufts Now. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  19. ^ Rutz, Christian; Loretto, Matthias-Claudio; Bates, Amanda E.; Davidson, Sarah C.; Duarte, Carlos M.; Jetz, Walter; Johnson, Mark; Kato, Akiko; Kays, Roland; Mueller, Thomas; Primack, Richard B. (September 2020). "COVID-19 lockdown allows researchers to quantify the effects of human activity on wildlife". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 4 (9): 1156–1159. doi:10.1038/s41559-020-1237-z. ISSN 2397-334X. PMID 32572222. S2CID 219976980.
  20. ^ Goldman, Jason G. "How the Coronavirus Has Changed Animals' Landscape of Fear". Scientific American. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  21. ^ Bittel, Jason. "Pandemic shutdowns saved thousands of animals from becoming roadkill, report suggests". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 27 February 2021.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Impact_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_on_animals&oldid=1019347354"