The Coronavirus makes people sick - but it can also infect Pets. To help the science, you need to veterinarians to report such cases as soon to the authorities. What does this mean for owners of dogs, cats and other animals?

Berlin (dpa) - Especially often it happens, but it is Also certain Pets and zoo animals can be infected with the Coronavirus.

in Order to explore the better, should there be soon a mandatory reporting requirement for Corona-cases in animals. Minister of agriculture, Julia Klöckner (CDU) relies on the fact that the Federal Council on may 3. July green light. That's not hot, but that dog or cat owners need to bring your Pets to the veterinarian. There is also no evidence that Pets can infect their owners stressed Klöckner.

The pandemic will be driven by the Transmission from human to human, said Thomas Mettenleiter, head of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal research Institute for animal health. Nevertheless, you must also have the situation in animals, in the view. The reporting requirement stipulates that veterinarians need to view cases with the authorities. This should apply to all the man-animals, also for zoo animals.

Known cases of cats infected with Corona. In a New York Zoo is also a lion and Tiger. Infections give it also in dogs, said Mettenleiter. But these should be less susceptible to the Virus and showing no symptoms at all. In experiments, ferrets were, however, well be infected. In the Netherlands there were cases in mink, which are bred for fur - there, there is also evidence that people may have in the animals infected.

The Federal government has no plans to Test duty for the approximately 31 million Pets in Germany. Useful could it be to let the cats testing, in house, keep up with Corona-Infected people live, said Klöckner. Only if a veterinary office ordering the Test, the costs are covered. Who wants to let his pet voluntary test, it must pay for itself - the cost would be "in the low double-digit range," said Mettenleiter. Antibody Tests that show a history of infection, were slightly more expensive.

Similar to people Mette extend the head, according to many Corona infections in animals completely without symptoms. It could also lead to respiratory problems for a cat owner to be not of a normal cat's runny nose to. Naturally infected animals were not died according to previous findings at the disease. In experiments, the occurred but, especially in younger cats, the studies in China according to severe ill health than older.

A special treatment, it is not so mettenleiter give. Useful it could be in certain cases, "contact with the pet, if possible, to interrupt, as well as it goes" - for example, by a kind of quarantine in a certain room or to a quarantine station in a veterinary office. The quarantine time spent similar to humans for about two weeks.

the all-clear for animal friends, the rats, or mice: they were according to the current state of knowledge is not infizierbar, said Mettenleiter. His Institute is also testing how it looks in farm animals. Pigs and chickens do not plug in therefore. Experiments with ruminants such as cattle are to follow.

questions and answers of the WHO

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute to Corona in animals