Canine Coronavirus Vaccine Demand Soars Amid Misconceptions and Panic in Pune

Optional and often skipped canine coronavirus vaccine has suddenly caught the eyes of dog owners in the city, with many confusing it to be a shot against the novel coronavirus infection.

Pet parent Tanya Ginwala did not know about the vaccine for the past 12 years when she got her dog. “After I came to know about the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak in China and other countries, I promptly took my dog to a veterinarian and got it vaccinated,” she said.

Baner resident Manjeet Kaul, another pet parent who got her dog vaccinated, said, “I adopted a German Shepherd some days back and decided to get its check-up done as a precautionary measure after hearing about the coronavirus outbreak.”

Veterinarian Milind Mhatre, however, clarified that the canine coronavirus vaccine was not to safeguard pets against the Covid-19 infection. “It was an optional shot, which pet parents used to skip from the list of annual vaccinations. Since the Covid-19 outbreak in China and other nations, pet parents have suddenly started getting their dogs administered with the canine coronavirus vaccine. I used to administer about 20 canine coronavirus vaccines a month earlier, but the number has gone up to 35 now,” he said.

Mhatre said while people were getting the shot administered to their pets in panic, they should understand that the vaccine was for different purposes. “Covid-19 is a different strain of the coronavirus family altogether,” he said.

A veterinarian claimed that samples from a dog’s nasal and oral cavities in Hong Kong had tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection last Friday. “It is believed to be the first dog in the world to test positive for Covid-19. However, no research is available to prove that dogs and cats can be infected by Covid-19,” he clarified.

“Dogs use smell and tongue as a means of sense. The dog owner in Hong Kong was infected and I believe that the dog also got infected due to contact. The canine coronavirus has been there for very long, but Covid-19, which a mutated strain of the virus, is what is affecting humans. The canine coronavirus causes gastrointestinal problems in dogs, unlike the respiratory issues caused by Covid-19 in humans. However, panic-stricken pet owners are opting to administer the vaccine to their pets,” Jeya Bharath, a veterinarian with a clinic on Sus Road, said.

“The strain of the current outbreak of coronavirus is completely different from the one that dogs and cats get infected with. Megavac CC is the vaccine meant for canine coronavirus and has been available in the market for nearly 15 to 20 years,” Bhavya Kumar, another veterinarian, said.

Please note: This article is not edited by Dog Express Team!