Bosnia registers first case of coronavirus transmitted from human to pet

According to the faculty dean, Muhamed Smajlovic, its scientists were the first in Bosnia and among the first in the region to isolate an indigenous strain of the coronavirus in June, sequence its gen,e and send the results to the World Health Organization.

“Our research team has proved the unilateral transmission of the virus from humans to pets. Most of the research was financed from our own and international funds of the IAEA and UNDP,” he said.

Head of the laboratory for molecular genetic and forensic tests, Teufik Goletic, confirmed that this is the first case of infection of an animal confirmed by PCR test in the country.

“This is a finding that places us alongside countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, the United States and China. These are countries where there have been reports of pets getting infected so far and these are mostly cases where it was transmitted from a human,” he said.

He stressed that such cases are very rare and that there is no cause for alarm among pet owners, explaining that no case of an animal transmitting the disease to a human has been confirmed anywhere in the world so far.

According to the head of the faculty clinic, Amir Zahirovic, the infected dog is doing well.

“A physical examination determined that the dog was cheerful and in good spirits, had an appetite. Special tests indicated no deviation from its normal healthy condition,” he explained.