Current:Home > reviewsYou asked: Can we catch a new virus from a pet? A cat-loving researcher has an answer -Summit Capital Strategies
You asked: Can we catch a new virus from a pet? A cat-loving researcher has an answer
View
Date:2025-04-26 03:32:25
"Get ready for a silly question," one reader wrote in response to our series on "hidden viruses" that jump from animals to people.
"I love my pups very much – and I think they love me too because I get lots of kisses. Is that bad from a spillover virus perspective – for me or my dogs? Should I train my pups to be less ... kissy? That's gonna be tough. I may just accept the risk :)"
This question isn't silly, at all. The vast majority of time that you get sick, you''re infected by another human. But that's not always the case. You can absolutely catch viruses from your pets, including dogs and cats.
And it isn't just from getting pet kisses. If you're physically close with your dog or cat – like snuggling on the couch together or sleeping in the same room, you're exposed to their viruses even without the saliva directly on your face. So kissing isn't really adding that much more exposure.
One virologist tried to figure out what new viruses his own cats might be carrying. "One of them likes to sleep on my head," says John Lednicky, who's at the University of Florida.
And he wasn't disappointed.
For years, Lednicky had a cat named Gibbs. "He was named after the singer Barry Gibb." And Gibbs loved to bring Lednicky "gifts."
"He used to bring me presents every single day. Rodents. Half-eaten rabbits. Snakes, birds, frogs. He was also making friends with opossums, too. So who knows what viruses my cat might be bringing into our home."
Lednicky's cat had a few ticks. "My backyard is full of raccoons and deer, which carry ticks," he says. He plucked a few ticks off the cat and took them into his lab and looked to see what viruses lurked inside.
"I pulled out Heartland virus from the ticks," he says. Scientists first identified Heartland virus back in 2012 in Missouri. Although thought to be rare in the U.S. the virus can cause a serious illness that can require hospitalization.
According to the Centers for Disease and Prevention, the U.S. has recorded about 60 cases of Heartland virus – and none in Florida. But Lednicky thinks some people in the state have probably caught Heartland, perhaps from ticks on their pets. "It's probably been diagnosed as a flu or something else," he says. Lednicky doesn't think Heartland is a major concern in Florida. He just thinks it's a bit more widespread than previously thought. "Just because I found it doesn't mean it's a problem." It just means some cases are going undetected.
Of course, dogs carry ticks, too. And they can also carry some interesting viruses.
As we explained in a previous article in our series, scientists think a new coronavirus – found in Arkansas, Haiti, Malaysia and Thailand – likely jumps from dogs into people.
"The virus probably circulates widely around the world, but no one has paid attention to it," Lednicky says. And if you've been around dogs frequently, he says, you might have caught this virus, which has a very technical name: CCoV-HuPn-2018.
But that doesn't mean you necessarily fell ill. The vast majority of time, these viruses from your pets don't make you very sick or even sick at all. For example, the new coronavirus that Lednicky cited may cause pneumonia in younger children but, in adults, it causes only mild symptoms, which resemble a cold or mild flu, or no symptoms at all. So you wouldn't probably even realize your dog infected you.
And as Lednicky points out, being exposed to viruses from your dogs, such as the new coronavirus, probably gives you immunity to that virus and similar ones.
Also, what viruses your pets have depends largely on their behavior. If your cat or dog is a homebody, who eats mostly from a can or bag stored in the kitchen, then they will likely not be infected with Heartland virus or some other exotic virus – except, that is, for the viruses you bring into the home.
Yes, we spill over our viruses to animals all the time, Lednicky says. It's called reverse spillover or reverse zoonosis. People don't realize how often we, the humans, pass along viruses to our pets, Lednicky says. "We don't understand reverse zoonosis well."
Take for instance, he says, what happens to cats after graduate students have parties at the University of Florida.
"I hear the same story over and over again from grad students: 'We had a party and my cat is now hiding in the closet," Lednicky explains, seemingly because the large number of people freaked out the cat.
"I always ask, 'How do you know your cat's not sick?' Sick cats hide because they don't want other members of the species to see them as weak."
And so, finally, Lednicky tested his hypothesis. He took samples from a hiding cat and tested it. "The cat turned out to have influenza virus – a human influenza."
veryGood! (83263)
Related
- Who's hosting 'Saturday Night Live' tonight? Musical guest, how to watch Dec. 14 episode
- Great Basin tribes want Bahsahwahbee massacre site in Nevada named national monument
- Environmentalists Rattled by Radioactive Risks of Toxic Coal Ash
- Death toll in southwestern China landslide rises to 34 and 10 remain missing
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Baltimore Ravens' Mike Macdonald, Todd Monken in running to be head coaches on other teams
- 'He is not a meteorologist': Groundhog Day's Punxsutawney Phil should retire, PETA says
- Pro Volleyball Federation launches with first match in Omaha: How to watch, what are teams
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Travis Kelce Calls Out Buffalo Fans for Hate Aimed at His Family and Patrick Mahomes
Ranking
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- The primaries have just begun. But Trump and Biden are already shifting to a November mindset
- North Carolina technology company Bandwidth leaves incentive agreement with the state
- Appeals court declines to reconsider dispute over Trump gag order, teeing up potential Supreme Court fight
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Long penalized for playing at Coors Field, Todd Helton finally gets his due with Hall of Fame nod
- Snoop Dogg says daughter Cori Broadus, 24, is 'doing a little better' following stroke
- Teenager awaiting trial in 2020 homicide flees outside Philadelphia hospital
Recommendation
Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
More than 100 cold-stunned turtles rescued after washing ashore frozen in North Carolina
Ford to recall nearly 1.9 million Explorer SUVs to secure trim pieces that can fly off in traffic
A key senator accuses Boeing leaders of putting profits over safety. Her committee plans hearings
Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
Pro Volleyball Federation launches with first match in Omaha: How to watch, what are teams
New Hampshire primary exit polls for 2024 elections
Liberal blogger granted press credentials in Iowa House days after filing lawsuit