prijava
SARAJEVO, February 3 (FENA) - The scientific research team of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sarajevo, continuously working on research related to coronavirus, proved the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus from humans to pets.
"We have determined the first infection in a pet, it is a dog, in Bosnia and Herzegovina," said at a press conference the head of the Laboratory for Molecular Genetic and Forensic Research, Prof. dr. Teufik Goletić.
He added that this is the first finding of its kind in BiH and in the region.
"This is a finding that places us alongside the most advanced countries in the world such as China, USA, Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium, France. Because this is really the culmination of the work that the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine has done. It enabled us to monitor the possibility of infection of pets in people who are infected with Covid-19," said Goletić.
He emphasized that so far no case in the world has been identified that pets, specifically dogs and cats, have infected people.
"Dogs and cats are infected due to extremely close contact with humans. Transmission to an animal is possible especially if the space that people share with pets is small, like apartments. If the way of interacting with an animal is such as hugging, kissing or using shared bedding, they can be the cause of the animal's infection. This is the so-called zooanthroponosis or transmission from human to animal," said professor Goletić.
Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Sarajevo, Muhamed Smajlović, said that scientists from this faculty were the first in BiH and among the first in the region to isolate the autochthonous strain of Covid-19 in June last year and sequence its gene and send the results to the World Health Organization. Most of the research was funded by their own funds and international organizations like the IAEA and UNDP.
(FENA) L. N.
