BP’s + COVID-19?

[numeroclaire]

Hi everyone,

This might be a silly question, but I’m gonna ask anyway. I’m in an area where we’re getting some confirmed coronavirus cases. I know a lot of humans can be infected and not show symptoms, or have mild ones. If I were to be exposed to it, what’s the likelihood that it could be transmitted to my ball pythons? As far as we know, dogs and cats can’t contract it. But what about snakes?

[Bogertophis]

I don't know that anyone can answer this for you definitively yet. As far as I know, this started from a Chinese market where all kinds of wildlife were sold as food,
& the very first animal I heard blamed was snakes, but whether or not that's actually true or just more snake-hatred, I cannot say. Another thing...while our dogs do
not get sick from this, apparently they CAN harbor the virus, like in their nasal passages (where it was actually found in at least one dog, without the dog being sick...
you know how dogs are always sniffing things?) so I'd just say we don't really know at this point...I would guess that it depends on what animals it jumped species
from to begin with? It's not a silly question, just one with no answer yet, as far as I know.

[asplundii]

The paper making the link to snakes was bad science and the scientific community has thoroughly refuted the claims made in it. Your snakes are fine, they are not going to get the disease.

The single dog that was purported to be carrying the virus has been tested multiple subsequent times and has come back negative for both virus and seroconversion so there is a degree of suspicion that the initial test may have been a false positive.

The reservoir species is bats, that is an absolute known. The transitional host is still unknown but it is undoubtedly mammalian. Other than the aforementioned dog, I have seen no reports either way of other common pets being potential carriers.

If you do find you have been exposed then your highest concern should be to avoid transmission to susceptible people

[303_enfield]

CDC said on the news this, COVID-19 will not transfer to pets or pets to humans.

Some of us are old enough to remember Polio. Polio makes COVID-19 look like a sneeze.

[Bogertophis]

From cdc.gov, in response to "Should I be concerned about pets or other animals and COVID-19?" (see the cdc.gov site for more info)

While this virus seems to have emerged from an animal source, it is now spreading from person-to-person in China. There is no reason to think that any animals including pets in the United States might be a source of infection with this new coronavirus. To date, CDC has not received any reports of pets or other animals becoming sick with COVID-19. At this time, there is no evidence that companion animals including pets can spread COVID-19. However, since animals can spread other diseases to people, it’s always a good idea to wash your hands after being around animals. For more information on the many benefits of pet ownership, as well as staying safe and healthy around animals including pets, livestock, and wildlife, visit CDC’s Healthy Pets, Healthy People website.






Should I avoid contact with pets or other animals if I am sick with COVID-19?
You should restrict contact with pets and other animals while you are sick with COVID-19, just like you would around other people. Although there have not been reports of pets or other animals becoming sick with COVID-19, it is still recommended that people sick with COVID-19 limit contact with animals until more information is known about the virus. When possible, have another member of your household care for your animals while you are sick. If you are sick with COVID-19, avoid contact with your pet, including petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food. If you must care for your pet or be around animals while you are sick, wash your hands before and after you interact with pets and wear a facemask.

[Crowfingers]

I doubt that this corona virus would become zoonotic between mammals and reptiles. Most are at least body temperature specific when not species specific. The virus found in dogs' noses was in a warm moist environments and snakes don't really have those - even internally.

As for diseases that you can get from your pets/animals, there are soooo many more that are worse than covid-19. For things that are either deadly to people (like rabies) or extremely contagious and quickly spread to large and varied populations (like canine influenza) there are vaccines available. The "distemper" vaccine that your dog gets every 1-3 years actually protect against 6 of these diseases:

• D – Canine Distemper
• H – Infectious Hepatitis
• L – Leptospirosis
• P – Parainfluenza
• P – Parvovirus
• C – Coronavirus

The only one of these that people can get from their dogs is Leptospiriosis - everything else is mostly canine specific (though some can be shared to ferrets / other dog-like animals). If people knew just how many potentially contagious disease that all animals can have, they would either never touch an animal again or loose sleep at night lol. Luckily most take more than a sneeze to catch.

The important thing is to keep up with your own personal health - hand washing, not touching your face, etc. Other humans are much more likely to "share" things with you than your pets.

If anyone is curious, here is a list of viruses that are common in reptiles:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exoti...es-of-reptiles