The cats were swabbed as part of a study being conducted at Texas A&M University to understand how pets living in “high-risk” households may be impacted by COVID-19.
Sarah Hamer, an epidemiologist, told KBTX-TV Friday that her team was testing dogs and cats who live in homes where the coronavirus has infected at least one person.
2 PET CATS IN NEW YORK TEST POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS.
She said that now that they know there’s a chance for pets to become infected in COVID-positive homes, pet owners should be cautious if they become infected, but that they should not worry, according to the station.
“But when we do find out that a pet is positive, we would work with those owners to take preventive measures to make sure that that pet is staying home, it’s not interacting with other pets and is isolating in the same way that positive people would isolate.”.
In a news release, Hamer said the study was not designed to test whether pets become infected from owners, or vice versa.
In July, a pet dog in Fort Worth, Texas, tested positive for the virus.
In April, federal officials confirmed two cats who lived in different parts of New York had tested positive for the virus.
UK
Australia
France
Germany
Russia
India
Canada