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Update (April 8): The study described in this article has now been published in Science.
Cats and ferrets can both be infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and can pass the infection on to other members of the same species, researchers reported in a study preprint on March 31. The study indicates that ferrets may be a suitable laboratory model for studying the disease (indeed, researchers are already using ferrets in their SARS-CoV-2 studies), but experts say it doesn’t reveal whether pets could transmit the infection to people.
In the study, which has not undergone peer review, researchers put viral particles into the noses of a small number of cats. They euthanized a few of the animals four days later and tested their organs for SARS-CoV-2 genetic material. They found viral RNA in the cats’ noses, soft palates, and tonsils, but not in their ...
