Veterinary Public Health Program
313 N Figueroa St. Rm 1127
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tel (213) 288-7060
Fax (213) 481-2375 vet@ph.lacounty.gov
Adobe Reader
Note: PDF documents on this site were created using Adobe Acrobat
5.0 or later. If you are using an earlier version of Adobe Acrobat
Reader (4.x or less), document functionality may be reduced.
2021 Survey of Los Angeles County
Veterinary Clinics - Pets and SARS-CoV-2
In February 2021, Veterinary Public
Health conducted a survey to veterinary clinics in Los
Angeles County to better understand local interest in
testing for SARS-CoV-2 in pets as well as to identify potential
barriers to testing. The survey had a response
rate of about 25% and some of the findings include:
Map showing the distribution of vet clinic survey responses by zip
code:
Survey responses
regarding client inquiries about SARS-CoV-2:
47.4% of clinics have had 1-5 inquiries
per month about SARS-CoV-2 in pets
10.5% of clinics have seen an animal
that they suspect had SARS-CoV-2 infection
Survey responses
regarding SARS-CoV-2 testing in pets:
14% of clinics have recommended
testing in a suspect case
Some
of the reasons why clinics are not testing
pets for SARS-CoV-2 include: Clinics not
seeing any suspect cases, the cost of the
SARS-CoV-2 testing, and the pet being
unavailable for testing.
More testing,
whether in symptomatic animals or as part of an active
surveillance study would be needed to better understand and
characterize pets that are infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Los
Angeles County.
To stay up to date on emerging animal health issues,
veterinary professionals are encouraged to join
the Animal Health Alert Network (AHAN) to receive updates
and alerts via email. Complete the online form
here or
fill out the
form by hand and email it to vet@ph.lacounty.gov.