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I have read that there have been cases where animals (some tigers, also a dog) have been infected by Covid-19 through a human host. At the same time, I read that currently it is deemed unlikely that the virus can spread back from those animals to humans (in the same source). Regarding the infection of other animals like tigers there is also this question which has some sources.

That makes no sense for me, I would think outside of the body, a virus is the same independent of the source and so any species that can catch it should be able to spread it to any other species that can also catch it. Are there any reasons why this would not be the case, in general?

kutschkem
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  • One reference for the human-to-tiger transmission: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-update.html (scroll down towards the bottom) – StayOnTarget Apr 06 '20 at 16:56
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    Your question would be improved if you could cite the things you've read. – Bryan Krause Apr 06 '20 at 17:38
  • @UuDdLrLrSs That seems to be a news ticker that updates constantly. The tiger thing doesn't seem to be there anymore. – kutschkem Apr 07 '20 at 06:10
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    I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to questions, probably more so than a few would like, but there are a lot of uncited assertions in this that make it really difficult to answer. – Alex Reynolds Apr 07 '20 at 06:13
  • @BryanKrause Added a link to the german news page where I read it. It is about the tigers, but also contains a bit about dogs and house cats which can be infected, but that at the same time the virus couldn't spread back to humans. – kutschkem Apr 07 '20 at 06:13
  • @AlexReynolds Sure I am interested in this particular disease, but I don't expect a definitive answer here. But the general case can probably be answered - are there viruses which jump from one host species to the other, but can't jump back? If so, why? – kutschkem Apr 07 '20 at 06:17
  • @kutschkem its still there - search for "tiger" in the text of the page – StayOnTarget Apr 07 '20 at 11:34

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