Fake news about the infection and transmission of COVID-19 between dogs, cats and humans

Abstract

Dogs and cats occupy a place of honor in the family, in constant interaction and contact, and since the Coronavirus Disease - 2019 (COVID-19) is an intensely contagious respiratory disease concomitant with the circulation of fake news about the possibility of pets transmitting the disease to their tutors, generated great concern, culminating in the abandonment and even mistreatment of animals. The objectives of the study were to analyze information from scientific articles/journalistic articles on infection and transmission of coronavirus in animals and from these to humans, and from that to guide tutors on pet care in relation to COVID-19, also opposing, the fake news published. The following descriptors were used: “coronavirus animals”, “SARS-Cov-2 animals”, in English and Portuguese, published from 2020 to 2022. The search index databases were Google Scholar, Scielo, Pubmed and Scopus. The selected articles showed that the evidence is limited regarding the action of animals in the epidemiological chain of COVID-19, and there is not enough scientific evidence that they can be transmitters to people. And even though some animals have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, there are no confirmed cases of transmission between these animal species and humans. Thus, it is believed that these bibliographic findings are relevant, due to the need to increase the knowledge of tutors about COVID-19 in dogs and cats, thus avoiding the spread of false news about the epidemiological role of pets.