Dr. Lera Clone provides a brief update (video dated Feb 28, 2020) on the then-spreading COVID-19 outbreak, focusing on implications for pets. Main points: the virus had spread to 50+ countries and was likely to become pandemic; the first dog reported a weak positive test in Asia (China/Hong Kong) from an infected owner and further testing was planned to distinguish true infection from environmental contamination; Morena Therapeutics was named as having developed an mRNA vaccine currently in trials; and practical prevention advice for pet owners (handwashing, wiping pets' feet, mask guidance, and avoiding putting human masks on dogs).
Questions this video answers
February 28, 2020.
Asia — specified as China or Hong Kong (reported as a weak positive from an infected owner).
Morena Therapeutics (using an mRNA approach).
N95 mask.
Chapters
Dun dun dun. Coronavirus update. So some big changes since the last video that we've posted. First things first, the virus has spread to more than 50 plus countries. As the CDC has said, it is not a matter of if this is going to come to your country or even your town, but a matter of when this is most likely going to become a pandemic. Since you guys are watching this video, you are most likely concerned about your pet dogs or cats. And the biggest update is we have the first patient, a dog patient, that has tested positive for COVID 19 in Asia, China or Hong Kong specifically. This is a patient, the owner is a patient who tested positive for COVID 19. That being said, it was a weak positive for the dog. And so there will be several other tests that are going to be performed to go ahead and try and confirm whether or not this is the actual COVID 19 virus and systemic infection, or if this is just a result of environmental contamination of the mouth and the nose. What that means is essentially if the dog is sniffing the ground, licking your hand or whatever, and it's just the virus is sitting there, but not actually causing disease, that's what they mean by environmental contamination of the mouth and nose. Now, I don't want you guys to panic. There are people working around the clock to go ahead and treat this disease and fight it. There's a company called Morena Therapeutics where they have already developed and shipped the vaccine. It is in trials right now. We don't know how effective it is, but they are using new technology where they use the MRNA of the virus, which is essentially like making a software for your immune system so that when your immune system does get exposed to COVID 19, it knows how to respond appropriately and how to take care of it. That being said, going back on some of the, or touching base on some of the prevention, on how to prevent this from spreading, you're going to want to make sure that you wash your hands after coming in contact with anybody who's showing any sort of upper respiratory signs. So sneezing, coughing, nasal discharge, anything like that. If your dog is coming in contact with somebody like that or going to heavily populated areas, you will want to go ahead and wipe their feet to help them prevent licking their feet and potentially ingesting the virus. That that way, if you want, what you could even do is you could wear a mask or you could get a mask for yourself. I know you're not excited about wearing masks, right? Don't wear human masks on your dog's face. Don't Put them on there. And don't put dog masks on your face. The N95 mask is the mask that everyone is buying. And it's supposed to be primarily for people in the medical profession. You don't need it as of right now. And if you are going to use a mask and you're a guy like me wearing a mask, you cannot have facial hair. It will prevent the good seal and airborne pathogens from entering in or potentially contaminating your beard with the virus. Okay, now talking about masks, masks have been worn in Wuhan, China for a while now since the beginning of this particular virus. And that being said, we know that the origins are from Wuhan. And so just kind of touching base on where we think this may have started with the wildlife markets. Obviously you have a bunch of different people there, you have a bunch of different animals. And so, as somebody else has mentioned, when you have a bunch of different species and a ton of people in one place, those wild animals bridge the gap between the wild and us. And so it is important that if you are potentially going to one of these markets or something like that, you be very, very cautious. That being said, this is not something that is going unchecked or uncontrolled. You know, like I said, there's already a vaccine that's been developed. People are working around the clock to go ahead and help prevent and treat patients who are getting sick. So if you guys found this video helpful, please give us a thumbs up. If you have any questions, leave it in the comment box. And if you know somebody who you think needs to see this, share it with them. Thanks for watching. Have a great day and be safe.
