Two cats test positive for COVID-19 in Texas: researchers

BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas -- Two cats have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 in Brazos County, according to a Texas A&M University study.

The diagnoses were discovered during a research project led by Dr. Sarah Hammer of the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and in collaboration with the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Texas A&M School of Public Health.

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The group recruited participants for the study, sampled pets at each household and then tested the samples in their laboratory facilities.

The team said they identified two asymptomatic cats from different houses in Brazos County. The animals tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, while living in a household with a person who was diagnosed with COVID-19.

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"At the time we collected samples from these cats at their houses, the owners did not report any signs of disease in their pets during the course of their own illnesses, but one of the cats later developed several days of sneezing after we tested it," Hamer said.

Additional pets are now being tested.