WHO confirms possibility of COVID-19 transmission from humans to animals

The World Health Organisation has confirmed the possibility of transmission of COVID-19 from human beings to animals like dogs, cats, tigers etc. The WHO representative to Russia Melita Vujnovic made the statement on April 5. She said that COVID-19 normally transmits between humans but new evidence has proved human to animal transmission.

Animals getting infected with COVID-19 virus

WHO representative to Russia Melita Vujnovic said that an intermediate host has not been identified yet. She further said that several animals who came in contact with infected people have tested COVID-19 positive. Researchers are also investigating the effect of the coronavirus on other animals. 

She said that they would also find about the animal who is most 'susceptible' to the virus so that the spread of the virus can be controlled. WHO has also advised corona positive people to maintain distance with their pets. Infected people should limit their interaction with their pets and other animals. She further added that as virus moves between humans and animals, there is a possibility of genetic modifications of the disease that could affect humans, reported news agency ANI citing Sputnik.

The head of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) team of international experts on March 30 said that its investigation in Wuhan to find the origins of novel coronavirus had uncovered new information but had not changed the picture of the outbreak. Peter Ben Embarek, a Swiss food safety scientist who leads the WHO team of international experts visiting Wuhan, said in a press briefing that the coronavirus is 'unlikely' to have leaked from a Chinese lab. He further added that it is more likely to have jumped to humans from an animal. After the crucial investigatory visit to China's city, Wuhan, where the coronavirus case was first reported in December 2019, Embarek assessed the 'most likely' pathway through an intermediary host species. 

(Inputs from ANI)

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