Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious infectious disease caused
by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). From the
epidemiological data, the picture emerges that the more severe etiopathologies among
COVID-19 patients are found in elderly people. The risk of death due to COVID-19 increases
exponentially with age. Eight out of 10 COVID-19 related deaths occur in people older
than 65 years of age. Older patients with comorbid conditions such as hypertension,
heart failure, diabetes mellitus, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and
cancer have a much higher case fatality rate. Governments and public health authorities
all over the world have realized that protections of vulnerable older adults should
be a priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease. The SARS-CoV-2
virus was originally transmitted likely from a bat or a pangolin to humans. Recent
evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2, similar to other coronaviruses, can infect several
species of animals, including companion animals such as dogs, cats, and ferrets although
their viral loads remain low. While the main source of infection transmission therefore
is human to human, there are a few rare cases of pets contracting the infection from
a SARS-CoV-2-infected human. Although there is no evidence that pets actively transmit
SARS-CoV-2 via animal-to-human transmission, senior pet ownership potentially may
pose a small risk to older adults by (1) potentially enabling animal-to-human transmission
of SARS-CoV-2 in the most vulnerable population and (2) by increasing the exposition
risk for the elderly due to the necessity to care for the pet and, in the case of
dogs, to take them outside the house several times per day. In this overview, the
available evidence on SARS-CoV-2 infection in pets is considered and the potential
for spread of COVID-19 from companion animals to older individuals and the importance
of prevention are discussed.
