In a first, pet cat in Belgium tests positive for coronavirus: Report

In what comes as an alarming report from Belgium, a pet cat has tested positive for coronavirus, however, scientists are not yet sure if it is a case of COVID-19.

A report on the Brussels Times stated that the incident occurred in the Liège province in Belgium, where a pet cat started showing symptoms associated with a coronavirus disease, including diarrhoea, difficulty in breathing and vomiting.

According to the report, the veterinary medicine faculty in Liège later confirmed that the cat was infected with coronavirus and that it may have passed on to the creature from her owner, who had been showing symptoms for COVID-19 from a week before the pet did. The vets found the virus in the cat's faeces.

This would be the first case of a cat testing positive for the virus. There have been reports from Hong Kong earlier, stating that two dogs had previously tested positive for coronavirus. One of these dogs, a 17-year-old Pomeranian, had died after returning home from quarantine.

However, there is no evidence yet to suggest that the virus can be transmitted from pets to humans. The World Health Organisation (WHO) also insists that there is “no evidence that a dog, cat or any pet can transmit COVID-19” to humans.

According to the Belgian newspaper, veterinarians are treating this is an isolated case.

More than 7,000 people have been confirmed positive with COVID-19 infection in Belgium, which is spreading like wildfire across the world. As of 11:40 PM on Saturday, the virus has affected around 640,589 people worldwide. The global death toll has hit 28,658, according to the COVID-19 statistics centre at the John Hopkins University.