The Seoul City Council reported today that it has detected the presence of COVID-19 in a domestic cat, the first positive of its kind since the South Korean capital last week launched a pioneering testing system for pets.

The cat that has tested positive is between 4 and 5 years old and resides with a family that transmitted the virus and in which all members are infected, with the first of them testing positive on February 10, according to a statement sent by the Metropolitan Government.
After the first positives were known in the family, the cat began to vomit and show tired, so nasopharyngeal and rectal samples were taken that were positive when subjected to PCR, a spokeswoman for the city council explained to GLM.
The feline is currently in quarantine for 14 days in a municipal animal shelter since all members of the family are in medical centers (South Korea hospitalizes the majority of positive cases).
In any case, the protocol established by Seoul, the first city in the world to establish a pet testing system, does not require that animals that test positive be sent to specific centers.
Since it has not yet been proven that animals can infect humans, Seoul allows those who have tested positive to be kept in their own home or with a designated keeper as long as they are not in direct contact with other animals or people.
Since launching its pet testing system on February 10, Seoul has tested three dogs and the aforementioned cat for the coronavirus.
Only those pets that show symptoms or have been in contact with infected humans can undergo the municipal testing system.
Although in a very isolated way, mammals of different species have been infected with COVID-19 by humans in different parts of the world, from dogs to minks and even lions or gorillas. 

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