Sick as a dog? Pets often catch COVID from humans, study finds

FILE PHOTO: A man walks a dog as lockdown restrictions increase during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Santiago, Chile, March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - If you think you have COVID-19, it might be best to stay away from your pets, says the author of a Dutch study that found a surprising number of dogs and cats may be getting infected.

"About one out of five pets will catch the disease from their owners," said Dr Els Broens of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, although there are no known cases of the disease spreading from pets to humans.