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Livesies t1_j7haplq wrote

Reply to comment by PHealthy in (Virology) Has SARS-CoV-2 outcompeted all the other coronaviruses which have been called the ‘common cold’? by jsgui

To add:

The quarantine measures taken to combat covid were so effective that the incidence, and particularly mortality, of the various common cold viruses tanked dramatically, I saw figures saying <1% compared to typical. Some variants were reportedly wiped out due to these same measures.

That being said, many of the viruses labeled as the common cold also have the ability to infect animals which makes it highly unlikely that those would be eradicated.

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humanophile t1_j7hc0b9 wrote

This story was the moment I knew that COVID probably would never go away. I think the first infected deer they found were on Staten Island.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02110-8

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SocialWinker t1_j7hkvkc wrote

I feel like I remember seeing a few sporadic articles about household pets testing positive for COVID during 2020, though it may have been later. I know the first time I had to quarantine, the telehealth nurse on the phone told me to avoid my pets, if possible, to prevent spreading it to them. Seemed sort of weird at the time, even though I was aware that it’s possible for a virus to jump species easily enough.

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Gisschace t1_j7hqt4o wrote

If I recall; dogs and cats can carry it but it doesn’t really effect dogs that badly whereas Cats can have similar symptoms to us

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SocialWinker t1_j7hse94 wrote

I could see that. I never heard anything about them actually getting "sick", just little things like the CDC site.

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Gisschace t1_j7ht4cf wrote

This is a shitty site but explains it, dogs have a mutation in their ACE2 which means they have a natural resistance to it, which cats don’t. So they can catch it but the virus replicates poorly and so it doesn’t really spread to us or other dogs.

https://www.aaha.org/publications/newstat/articles/2020-08/the-reason-cats-get-covid-and-dogs-dont/

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xoriatis71 t1_j7jpiha wrote

It's not just about the severity of COVID when it comes to pets. Like a previous commenter stated, COVID can jump ship, infecting animals as well as humans. While infected, animals can help COVID mutate, and due to the fact that it can then jump back to humans, we risk contracting a completely new COVID variant at worst.

Edit: A reply right below this one said that due to a mutation in their ACE2, dogs are resistant to COVID, as that mutation doesn't allow COVID to multiply efficiently, thus reducing transmissibility between humans and other dogs. As a result, my reply doesn't really apply to dogs.

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PainfulJoke t1_j7hobw2 wrote

I also heard that same advice being mentioned to avoid animals being uninfected carriers of the disease (as in on their fur, saliva, etc).

I'd be interested to learn if it's currently known to be transmittable to common housepets or if that advice was out of an abundance of caution.

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SocialWinker t1_j7hori9 wrote

The CDC site says it has been transmitted to household pets. >Pets worldwide, including cats and dogs, have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, mostly after close contact with people with COVID-19.

Sounds like it's a realistic concern. Not that there's a ton of information on there.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/covid-19/pets.html

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birdstork t1_j7jhsvh wrote

In NYC we were concerned about cats after a Lion and a few tigers at the Bronx Zoo caught covid. The zoo had been closed to the public but caretakers were coming to work as usual. This was a rough week; we’d already been hearing sirens nonstop (ambulances) and then it was like “oh come ON now cats too???”

https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/14084/Update-Bronx-Zoo-Tigers-and-Lions-Recovering-from-COVID-19.aspx

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samanthasgramma t1_j7i6wew wrote

For me, I knew it was never going away when they said it was a coronavirus. I had recently done some reading on the Spanish Flu that took me into that rabbit hole I call "hyperlinks" (can get lost for hours). When they said "coronavirus", I said "And those would be part of our seasonal colds and flus, and they just keep mutating but don't actually die off."

I told that to someone and they said "Oh, big lady with the crystal ball!". Yeah. Dude. It's a coronavirus. I didn't need one.

I never bought into "It's going to be OVER". I was just resigned to it from the get go. I haven't decided if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

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Lumpy-Dingo-947 t1_j7ilbxe wrote

We managed to slow it down enough to keep the hospitals from getting completely overrun in the US at least.

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lafigatatia t1_j7kj1lu wrote

SARS (the original not the remake) was a coronavirus and it did go away, after appropriate contention measures. But it didn't have asymptomatic carriers, which made those measures much easier. The moment this one spread out of Wuhan it was already too late.

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PRSArchon t1_j7lx0aw wrote

While it is true the virus will never be gone, it is over in many countries. I have not noticed a single thing about covid in the past ~10 months where I live. That’s mostly due to very good vaccination rates. Sure there will be seasonal vaccinations for some demographics but that is no different than the flu.

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binary101 t1_j7i5qng wrote

I do wonder, in a perfect world if everyone adhered to a three-week quarantine, just how many different strains of viruses or bacterial diseases we could have eliminated.

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androgenoide t1_j7ipyam wrote

As opposed to living in a world where workers have to go in and prepare our food when they're sick because they don't get paid sick days?

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binary101 t1_j7ivssg wrote

I know it's unrealistic, asking as a hypothetical because there will always be an exception.

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androgenoide t1_j7j3213 wrote

I know. It bothers me because it seems like it should be such an easy fix to keep food workers home but it turns out to be almost impossible.

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binary101 t1_j7j5tfe wrote

I think there are several issues, it can be done but it would require massive amount of planning, which like you said would make it almost impossible.

If we look at the COVID response and past pandemics, its very sudden and catches people out and causes mass panic (everyone going out to buy toilet paper). As no one knows/knew how long the lock downs would be.

However, if we announced it beforehand, informing the public of the duration of the quarantine. Set up supply drop offs, re-assure the public that there won't be supply issues, account for basic contingencies, it could be done, but it would require an almost militaristic amount of planning and logistics.

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ThisUsernameIsTook t1_j7j7whe wrote

Isn’t that sort of what China tried to do? Human nature makes it a really hard problem to solve out in the imperfect world.

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binary101 t1_j7j8aic wrote

Not really, China just had unexpected quarantines with no info on end dates and letting the public figure out how they were going to get supplies to keep alive for the duration.

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p-terydatctyl t1_j7jk5pe wrote

If you'd like to know look at new zealand. They managed to eradicate covid and while we were in full swing they were playing rugby in full stadiums w/ no masks. Shame the rest of the world couldn't follow suit

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crispy48867 t1_j7iqjok wrote

If the world were to mask up for maybe 5 weeks, most airborne diseases would be wiped out, at least for a few years if not longer.

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Octavia9 t1_j7ksjfs wrote

It’s pretty impossible for everyone to quarantine. We need safety services, health care, food, agriculture can’t just stop especially caring for livestock. Utilities have to keep running. It’s a long list and reminds me how interdependent we really are on each other.

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