Indeed, he explained that the British government had considered the idea of ”exterminating” all domestic cats. The reason? At the start of the epidemic, a cat had contracted the disease and it was feared that it cannot be transmitted from animals to humans, and virologist Margaret Hosie called for caution at the time.
James Bethell adds: “Can you imagine what would have happened if we had wanted to do it? And yet, at some point there were elements in this direction so we had to explore this track to rule it out”.
Covid-19: the virus is still there, but no one cares
Finally, in a study published in June 2022, this potential contamination from cats to humans was confirmed, but the risk turns out to be low, much lower by the way than contamination from humans to cats.
It should be noted that if cats in the United Kingdom were finally spared, in Denmark, thousands of mink were euthanized to prevent the spread of the virus.
