Rats and Covid?
when you or your rats have a coronavirus
I’m not a doctor so I cannot give advice, but I hope to show you some points of discussion around the topic of covid and your pet rats so that you can consider the issues.
COVID-19 was probably derived from animals infecting humans, so it’s not surprising that we continue to be concerned about animal/human transmission. Early on, the virus seemed limited to a few species. Mustelinae, a group of animals that includes ferrets, mink, polecats, are particularly prone to Covid.1 In 2020, the first cases of covid in domestic cats was observed2. Then, as new strains of the virus arrived, we saw more animals included on the list published by the UK government of animals subject to infection.3 This list includes lots of animals we are unlikely to have contact with, but some that we are, including dogs, domestic cats, ferrets and polecats, rodents and hamsters.4
It isn’t clear how easily we get covid from our pets. An article entitled, “Companion animals likely do not spread COVID-19 but may get infected themselves”, was published in 2020 in Geroscience. There were recommendations about keeping dogs, in particular, away from other people so they didn’t get infected and then pass on the infection to older owners. However, the article also stated that “…animal-to-human transmission is likely only a minor route of transmission for SARS-CoV-2.”5
Then, in 2023 researchers reported that “…dogs can get COVID-19 from their owners but are asymptomatic when infected—it is unclear if it affects the health of dogs. Research is inconclusive on if dogs can transmit SARS-CoV-2 to their owners.”6 More research was called for.
The Center for Disease control suggests that transmission can happen from pets to people. “There is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to people. There have been a few reports of infected mammalian animals spreading the virus to people during close contact, but this is rare.”7
The statement goes on to say that most of the time the pets who had covid got it from their owners to begin with. However, the UK government states that “hamsters can spread the virus through close contact with their own species in captivity”8 and so I assume the same would be true of rats. The UK government also states that “limited evidence suggests that COVID-19 can pass…from infected humans to the listed animals after close contact or sharing equipment or airspace.”9
Many of us who follow postings from breeders within the National Fancy Rat Society believe that our rats can get covid from us. In fact, they may contract a number respiratory illness from us, though I don’t hear of us contracting illness of this kind from them – that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, however.
If I am showing signs of any respiratory virus I usually stay clear of my rats so that they have less risk of becoming infected. Either I ask another family member to look after the rats over a few days when I have a cold, or I wear a mask and wash my hands before entering their space. At such a time, I avoid bringing rats up near my face, too. However, even when I’ve had a cold and been less the prudent, they’ve remained fine so far.
I have had covid three times, but I’ve always tested and I’ve always worn a mask if I have any symptoms at all, even when I didn’t test positive for the virus. I cannot guarantee my rats have never been affected, but I’ve never seen it.
If you are concerned, treat any respiratory illness in your rats as though it could potentially be zoonotic (passed onto humans) and make sure not to get right into their airspace, wash your hands after handling them, and consider wearing an FFP3 mask if you are particularly worried about infection.
When rats get a coronavirus, their symptoms are likely to include “squinting, photophobia, lacrymation (runny eyes), production of porphyrin around the eyes and nose which may also appear on the inside of the forelegs as they attempt to wash themselves. Older rats usually develop sneezing and sometimes swelling of the salivary glands at the angle of the jaw (parotid) and up the sides (submaxillary). Swelling of the Harderian and lacrymal glands around the eyes may also occur.”10
Early symptoms develop usually within six days of contact with the virus, though sometimes with only very mild symptoms.11 Rats can’t cough, which makes things very hard for them, and while some rats will sail through a bout of illness, others will develop pneumonia or die as a result of any coronavirus. Some rats with coronavirus may shed disease without symptoms.
It’s distressing to have any virus, especially covid, and to worry about passing it onto others, including your pets. So far, there hasn’t been a lot of advice about avoiding giving it to pet rats, or contracting it for that matter, but with a few precautions it’s possible to avoid such an event. We can only hope to know more in the future.
European Food Safety Authority and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control; Boklund A, Gortázar C, Pasquali P, Roberts H, Nielsen SS, Stahl K, Stegeman A, Baldinelli F, Broglia A, Van Der Stede Y, Adlhoch C, Alm E, Melidou A, Mirinaviciute G. Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 infection in mustelids. EFSA J. 2021 Mar 3;19(3):e06459. doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2021.6459. PMID: 33717355; PMCID: PMC7926496.
Newman, Alexandra, et al. “First Reported Cases of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Companion Animals — New York, March–April 2020.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 69, no. 23, 2020, pp. 710–13. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26967505. Accessed 13 Sept. 2024.
GOV.UK. (n.d.). Coronavirus (COVID-19): advice for people in England with animals. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-people-with-animals.
IBID
Csiszar, A., Jakab, F., Valencak, T.G., Lanszki, Z., Tóth, G.E., Kemenesi, G., Tarantini, S., Fazekas-Pongor, V. and Ungvari, Z. (2020). Companion animals likely do not spread COVID-19 but may get infected themselves. GeroScience, [online] 42. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-020-00248-3.
Kamel MS, El-Sayed AA, Munds RA, Verma MS. Interactions between Humans and Dogs during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recent Updates and Future Perspectives. Animals. 2023; 13(3):524. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13030524
CDC (2020). Animals and COVID-19. [online] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/animals.html.
GOV.UK. (n.d.). Coronavirus (COVID-19): advice for people in England with animals. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-people-with-animals.
IBID
Storey, A. Rat Coronavirus. Pro-Rat-a, May/June 2009; 171. Also, National Fancy Rat Society - NFRS. [online] Nfrs.org. Available at: https://nfrs.org/articles_sdav.html [Accessed 13 Sep. 2024].
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