Death of cats at house of Covid-19 patients causes scare at Manarcad
KOTTAYAM: The death of a cat doesn’t necessarily cause a scare. But when a second cat dies in the same manner, that too within hours, it can make residents worried. That is what happened among residents on the outskirts of Manarcad near Kottayam. Concerns over the sudden deaths soon turned into absolute panic when they realised the cats belonged to the house of Covid patients in the area. Since all four members of the family who work at a rubber factory in Vadavathoor tested positive and were shifted to the hospital a couple of days ago, the fear intensified and they approached Manarcad grama panchayat authorities to remove the carcasses.
The fear increased when the panchayat authorities led by ward member Suja Thomas visited the house and found out that there were nearly eight more cats and 11 kittens in the house and many of them were found with dizziness.With the intervention of the panchayat authorities, the carcasses were taken for the postmortem examination at the Avian Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) in Tiruvalla by the veterinary department authorities.
Though feline to human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus has not been confirmed anywhere in the world, ADDL authorities subjected the carcasses for Covid tests, taking into account the concerns of the people. The results were negative and the postmortem examination found the deaths due to feline panleukopenia, a contagious viral disease among cats caused by the feline parvovirus.
“The cats belonged to a rubber factory employee who was staying in a rented house near Manarcad. His wife tested positive for Covid on August 8 and later the man and their two children were also confirmed with the virus infection on August 11. The family had more than 10 cats and cared for them with specially made cradles on the house premises,” Suja said. “We have covered the carcass of the deceased cat by filling some soil over it. However, people are still living in fear,” Suja said.
Meanwhile, Dr O T Thankachan, chief veterinary officer, Kottayam, said there was nothing to fear over the death of cats. “As per the postmortem report, the cats died due to feline panleukopenia. To confirm the results, a second-level examination was conducted at the State Institute for Animal Diseases (SIAD), Palode, which upheld the findings at the ADDL. Moreover, there isn’t any report of feline to human transmission of Covid across the globe,” he said.