Johannesburg/London: A World Health Organization scientist said Covid-19 comes from bats and can spread among cats, amid an international debate about the virus’s origin.
The novel coronavirus comes from a group of viruses that originate or spread in bats, and it’s still unclear what animal may have transmitted the disease to humans, Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO expert in animal diseases that jump to humans, said Friday in a briefing with reporters. The virus probably arrived in humans through contact with animals raised to supply food, he said.
Recent studies showed that cats can transmit the virus to other cats and the WHO is aware of instances of pets of Covid-19 patients being infected, it said in a statement Friday. While precautions should be taken to avoid the infection of pets from close contact with Covid-19 human cases, further evidence is needed to understand if animals and pets can spread the disease. It’s important to find out which animals can get infected to avoid creating a “reservoir” in another species, Ben Embarek said.
Questions about the origin of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that has caused the pandemic, have intensified since U.S. President Donald Trump suggested it came from a laboratory in China. Germany most recently questioned the claim, made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Der Spiegel reported. Intelligence services from five countries, including the U.S., were unable to confirm his statements, it said. Scientists who have studied the issue maintain that the virus originated in an animal, and probably entered the human population in November.
New Mission
WHO scientists are considering a new mission to China to get more information about the virus’s animal origin, Maria van Kerkhove, one of the agency’s top epidemiologists, said at a press briefing Wednesday. Questions remain about whether the virus traveled directly from bats to people, or if other species were involved.
Pangolins, armored mammals that live in Asia, have been found to harbor versions of Sars-CoV-2 that are similar to those in people. The WHO wanted to conduct more animal investigations on an earlier mission to China, but the lockdown of the outbreak’s epicenter in Wuhan made that impractical, Ben Embarek has said.
The first human cases were detected in and around Wuhan, and most of those people had contact with the animal market, though not all, Ben Embarek said.
Trump has doubled down on claims that the Chinese mistakenly released the virus from the laboratory as the outbreak in the U.S. has grown to become the world’s largest and deadliest. Chinese officials have said that the U.S. has no evidence to back up those claims and called the allegations a blame game.-Bloomberg
Also read: Novel coronavirus outbreak could have begun as early as 6 October 2019: New study
Lies!
The WHO is a totally discredited information source. The fact that this is a novel virus in both cats and humans points to a single source release (lab accident, most likely), rather than a natural mutation from a reservoir of near-miss viruses in a population of, say, bats that only exist in Hubei province in laboratories, were not sold at the wet market, and are otherwise in hibernation in isolated mountain cabes 1000 miles away. There’s more evidence that this came from a lab than the desperate assertions of the scientists whose work consists of modifying the Spike protein of bat coronaviruses to make them infectious to human cells that it didn’t, it just couldn’t, it wouldn’t come from a lab licensed by the WHO to work on bioweapon level viruses.
Two doctors, one prominent business man tried to say were it came from and worn people, some how they just disappeared, sorry just can’t believe anything China says.
If people believed everything the government and who says they wouldn’t leave the house ? oh wait, most are not.. stop scaremongering..
Like anything they say can be believed, sounds like they are tryimg to continue the cover up for commie land. How much has beijing paid them off?
They’ve already proven it came from a lab…FAKE NEWS.
The WHO has about as much credibility as the Chinese National Party when it comes to accurate and truthful information…none, zero, zip, nada.
All I can say is that who ever wrote the 1st comment starting out with “BS” needs some spelling lessons before they try to convey their thoughts n opinions to other’s. Learn how to spell words correctly so people know what your trying to say? ?
I agree we have enough homeless cats as is without humans, same type humans who would drink clorox, doing away with their pets in cruel and inhumane ways, based on uneducated and ill-informed assumptions. Please stop spreading unneeded misinformation about our furry friends!
So the Novel Corona Virus came from a particular type of bat you all claim ….?. So please, pray tell us where in the Hell did the bat get it? If you can only speculate that the virus came from a bat, but you can not or refuse to identify how and or where a bat got this virus, then your theories are crap as far as the general public and people sickened or dead by this virus and their loved ones are concerned . Where did the bat get this crap? Is this some type of cover up? You can kill the so called carrier bats or whatever if you want but if you can not identify where this bat got this virus then we have not gotten any closer to identifying what started this and finding a complete cure for it than we were months ago.
I would love to know where in the Hell the bat got it in the first place so we can eradicate that carrier. Whatever that was and whatever or whomever gave it to that bat. You can kill the bats etc., but whatever infected that bat (s) are still out there.
I personally do not believe that this is some kind of governmental cover up crap to control us. I think it is a world that is demanding answers and a world of people that are scared because the government does not know what the hell is going on, the real origination of this virus or how to cure it just yet.
It is well established that bats carry
these viruses. Also rats. Didn’t
really “catch it”
It can jump to a pangolin eaten at
the wet market and then to people
I tend not to believe the lab theory
but maybe. As we keep interfering
with wildlife habitats so we are in
contact with animals we are at
risk for these viruses
Humans can’t handle these viruses
I agree with the comments about
cat transmission and ignorant
people will toss their animals.
I am not Republican but blame
the media for inciting panic
O
Very misguided and misleading information. It is irresponsible to put a seed in the minds of lay people who will more than likely overreact because they don’t know any better. You cannot get Co id-19 from cats or dogs.
It seems to me that while the experts are studying this virus and learning as new information is coming to light, the rest of us should use the same integrity and sense of responsibility as the experts do. Emotive responses made public do nothing to add to the knowledge about covid-19. As with the study of other diseases about which we are now familiar, we should remember it may take months if not years to truly understand this virus.
There is a reason why the Chinese used to charge the family for the round that killed the person that lied to the government/party.
It may have come from bats but then the finger points to the Chinese wet markets and that then caused the pandemic due to their poor hygiene and archaic animal welfare standards . WHO is a puppet of China and that is where the blame lies and China needs to be held accountable for their actions . Either way it is their fault
This is a time to keep your cats inside and make sure they are up to date on their vaccinations –which can be purchased at a reasonable cost over the counter at feed stores.
You’re exactly right
Man will make more lies to cover up their lies. Really it’s sad and evil that people are in the middle of man’s wicked schemes. God have mercy on us all.
I wouldn’t believe anything anymore coming from. WHO. Their opinions have been bought by the Chinese government
It’s the government a form of population control
Liers…
Yes more lies from the who I agree with Donald Trump,the outbreak started in the lab,now they blame animals and some people believe them and throwing there dogs and cats off bridges when they had nothing to do with it ,dont spread lies and animals suffering ,The Lord God Almighty knows
Yes more lies from the who I agree with Donald Trump,the outbreak started in the lab,now they blame animals and some people believe them and throwing there dogs and cats off bridges when they had nothing to do with it ,dont spread lies and animals suffering for it,you know exactly where this started,same as aids ect to cut down the populations ,The Lord God Almighty knows
WHO …are you kidding ??? you lot deserve to be injected with this lab manipulated virus stuck in confinement for six weeks and then we throw away the keys on you and all your croonies…the positive test on a pawpaw just shows how sick and twisted you are…
Why would the Who lie about cats? People going conspiracy theory crazy…… Its actually a study done by real science people read something other than comics you might ac learn something.
Whuhan just happened to be testing the covid virus at the time as the US deemed it too dangerous to tested on their soil. Pay a Chinese lab to do the same job for a bit more money. Covid 19 . Trump on this occasion knows more about the situation than we do.
And apparently it also infects donkeys, goats, Paw Paw fruits, and even car diesel. Nowhere is safe.
What a clever little bugger.
I have copd asthma heart disease as well as numerous other illnesses, and have owned cats since the age of 16 i am now 58 my illnesses haven’t been caused by cats they’ve been caused by the world we live in and the people who keep the truth from us with all their experiments im glad not all of us have been brainwashed and can still see beyond the bull they want us to believe, I breathe as well as I do as I listen to my body and what its telling me not the man who doesn’t even know me, cats don’t make you ill or id be dead by now people releasing chemicals in the air and injecting people and animals are responsible for killing people
Exactly… Well said
You can’t trust anything WHO says at all. They are nothing but criminals!!
The first know case has now been proven that it was in France.
To me this a game changer and this article is utter bollocks
We just don’t know who to listen to now. WHO used to be reliable, but they lost credibility by telling China to go ahead and reopen their wet markets again. This gives some credence to Trump’s assertion that the virus started in a lab. I prefer not to believe that, but… it’s definitely the loose end of the cannon ?
China are pure poison they shouldn’t be killing dogs etc Evil sods destroying our country
Of course this virus was produced in a lab, and the 1 and only animal that should be blamed and held accountable for this is the human who made it. Cats, dogs, bats, birds and every other animal (except the human) had nothing to do with this. These innocent animals that people want to blame for this, have been around for thousands of years with human interaction and never transmitted diseases like this, not counting rats, otherwise, this would have happened a long time ago. Stop blaming animals, they have NOTHING to do with it, blame the p.o.s. human that created it. Treat your pets with love and care, it’s not their fault. Condemning wet markets might be a good place to start.
It come out of the lab at Wuhan so don’t talk bollox and blame cats and other animals you muppet
Can’t actually believe you’ve printed negative stuff, and the people are still alive, unlike the WMD chap who stabbed himself in the back 7 times to commit suicide.
If anyone wants to know the truth check out Dr. Rashid Buttar on You-Tube, most of his videos have mysteriously disappeared, but have a search and you eyes will be opened. God help us all.
Mysteriously? He had written in the description that he was going to take the video down himself after 24-hours.
It was clearly man/chinese made!!
Which country has benefitted most since the outbreak began??
Say no more!!
It was clearly man/chinese made!!
Which country has benefitted most since the outbreak began??
Say no more!!
Not in england mo bats were i live. And your country yes. U got it. China ows us british people money as they cased it started this vious stupid china. U us money u pay bill. And not in england catch vious from cats no proff and been told by health cheifs and vets.
Stop your fake news!! This is disgusting what you are doing!! Cats can have their health problems , true , but COVID-19 is definetely not one of them!! At thus moment you may be contributing to more abondons!! Stop it immediately!!
Can’t belive what you are saying stop giving fake information until you Who get it right you are scaring people an peoe are dumping there animals because of it.we all know where it came from if truth were known you are just trying to blame it on innocent animals like cats start telling the truth for once alot of peaple have died around the world.
What id like to know is the risk to reptile owners In regards to infection. Millions of us own snakes, frogs, lizards and turtles etc.
Snakes are my livelihood. My hobby and also part of my income. I need to know how high risk they are.
We already know viruses mutate and become an issue to humans when cross species jumping happens (wrong pig met the wrong bat. Human eats pig human becomes infected as an example) but rarely is any looking taken in regards to reptile owners.
CCP lied, WHO hides,people died.no more bullshit from WHO(Wuhan health organization)
I agree with BS completely sorry these things just don’t manifest. Sorry but MAN MADE
what will be the symptoms in cats having corona virus?
It can also come from chinese Tedros teddy bear
It was man made
Stop this rubbish about bats and cats,it came from a laboratory
Yah sure, and AIDs came from monkeys… Theses viruses are man made and designed in labs for obtimale results. The WHO are the ones in the 80’s that inaculted thousands of Africa’s ppl over polo consernes and started the AIDs epidemic; not a pandemic which we’re facing. The deference between the two are ones based upon a tangible disease/virus, the latter is based of how many sheep get scared and follow the leader.
Your so right in this
Good on you it was a government Biological weapon
They have to keep the ge people scared so they can sale their hypothetical anti-virus. Now that people are starting to wake up and learn the truth they have to put out more fake news to keep us scared
I’m very sad to say that you, my friend, are extremly dumb.
I can’t believe they are continuing to feed us this lie
Maybe yur comments could be taken more seriously if they looked like reasoned and thoughtful analysis instead of gramatically incorrect and misspelled
Nice one, well said
Spot on! #2manySheepsAround
I thought they said aids started from gay men.
Your reasoning is worse than your spelling!
Bingo
In you are so right they blame everything in everybody but there selfs those people lie so damn much it is not funny but that’s dem-0-rats for you
In you are so right they blame everything in everybody but there selfs those people lie so damn much it is not funny but that’s dem-0-rats for you
Spell check
your comment would be taken a lot more seriously if it did not seem as if you were illiterate! Seriously look over some of those mangled and misspelled words or else have somebody else do it for you?
BS: obtimale? eniculted?? polo consernse?? Huh?
The WHO is a very corrupt organization, they were very quick to praise China for their swift and prompt response to the outbreak. (you must be joking). The WHO board members are from less developed countries who receive huge financial aid from China… Therefore they will declare everything in the defence of China. Easier to say that pets are responsible than enforcing China to close those slaughterhouse animal markets!
Shut up you need to learn how to spell little one
Ok boomer
Dear BS, And that is the most appropriate username for your comment handle,since you’re so Full Of B.S!!!! Please Refrain from Exposing the rest of us to anymore of your FOX(FAKE-NEWS)Paranoid Delusions!!! Also,Why don’t you LEARN CORRECT SPELLING,CORRECT GRAMMAR AND PROPER WORD PLACEMENT IN A SENTENCE DUMBKOPF!!! IT’S SPELLED OPTIMAL, NOT OBTIMALE!! IT’S SPELLED INOCULATE, NOT INULCATE!! LAST, BUT NOT LEAST,I BELIEVE THE WORD YOU WERE LOOKING FOR WAS DIFFERENCE, NOT DEFERANCE WHICH YOU STILL SPELLED INCORRECTLY!! IT’S DEFERENCE WHICH ABSOLUTELY NO-ONE WILL HAVE FOR YOU AND YOUR LUNATIC FRINGE OPINIONS!!!
Sir when something is not clear and confirm then please don’t share it in public just because of your unclear and not confirm news many poor animal are getting abandon on road their owners are leaving them on road to die hungry
Sama-sama good opinion
Thank u so much 4 saying that statement. You seem and must be a animal lover as I am as well. It breaks my heart and having difficult nights causing many nightmares. These poor defenseless beautiful creatures are suffering and they are so loyal and bring constant joy. Many people are using this virus for abandoning these animals and all they ask for is love and your trust. It is so cruel “How would they like to be forgotten and starve?”
rightly said
Human Covid-19 isn’t transmissible from cat to cat. Cats do have another form of Corona but it isn’t the human covid-19 and can’t be transmitted from cat to human, only cat to cat through feces which has been a virus among cats since a very long time now, long before the pandemic.
Misleading information like this will certainly lead to people abandoning and discarding of their pets in horrible and inhumane ways.
Exactly. Ferrets are another thing, that’s because they are so closely related to us. They get flu, colds we can pass it to them. ( I am a owner) I am a bit sad they started testing on them.
Absolutely, misinformation that is given out, jeopardise the lives of many animals.
Media should STOP producing non factual rubbish.
I agree they shouldn’t keep bringing cats into this pandemic. They gave it to cats by directly spraying it up their noses. The only cats that MIGHT get this virus will be from humans. Not cat to human. And yes, people have been discarding their cats over this BS. I rescue cats, feed colonies n do TNR. There has been a serious increase of cats showing up in my colonies. It’s heart breaking n completely uncalled for. And by the way, I’m not the least
bit worried about getting the covid-19 virus from the cats. As long as sick people aren’t running around coughing up their noses There is no way they can get it (from humans) n they DON’T give it to people.
100% absolutely correct. I manage a home sanctuary where I have more than 100 cats, most of which I hug and kiss everyday. So I never fear getting infected by any of my cats. To the damned and dumb idiots out there who are obviously cat haters, I pray YOU get infected by the virus and that you die immediately.
From Anton LaRue So very true its called bio warfare used for centuries. AIDS has been around for thousands of years as all STDS. .
The WHO say it so it must be true! ?
The world as a whole only has the World Heath Organisation to work and co-ordinate our future. helping countries understand there positions. It may not be perfect what organisations is, but it is all we have please do not destroy things when we should all be working together to get through what is difficult for most and terribly for some.
Part of living in a democracy is information is readily available, you may not like it but if it is there we should know.
WHO IS GOD
Who believes anything the WHO utter anymore!!
China appka baap hai kya
Jo uski wakalat karte hooo
More lies from the WHO (reference- judy mikovits)
This is the biggest bunch of crap Iv3ever heard. So, now I guess people are be killing all the cats oh and all the rest of the animals dogs too because ALL animals have CORONAVIRUS. Im really PISSED OFF that this article even got printed.