OREANDA-NEWS. In Latvia, the first case of COVID-19 in a dog was recorded, writes the news portal «Delfi» with reference to the Food and Veterinary Service (PVS) of the Republic. As noted the head of the PVA Maris Balodis in an interview with the program «900 Seconds» on TV3, the results of the tests give reason to believe, that the dog has already recovered from the coronavirus.

In Latvia, there were 708 new cases of coronavirus confirmed during the day, and 13 infected people died, the «BNS» news agency reported on Thursday, February 18, with reference to the Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the republic. The total number of cases of COVID-19 in Latvia increased to 79.351, the number of victims of the pandemic reached 1.521.

Earlier two domestic dogs with a positive test for COVID-19 were identified in Hong Kong, which was reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). No clinical signs of the disease were found in the animals. It is specified, that the dogs were in contact with people infected with the new coronavirus. Therefore, it was decided to test the pets.

Recall, that the new coronavirus can also infect tigers, lions, leopards and domestic cats. The COVID-19 in big cats was previously reported to the OIE by zoos in the United States, Spain and South Africa. Also, the new infection is susceptible to martens (minks and ferrets). Recent studies have shown, that pigs and some rodents are vulnerable to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. A veterinarian from Russia, Yevgeny Tsyplenkov, advised pet owners to vaccinate them against coronavirus infection.