COVID-19 mutation caused far fewer cat deaths than claimed, Cyprus veterinary leader says

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The head of Cyprus’ veterinarians’ association has dismissed as groundless claims that a lethal mutation of the COVID-19 virus has taken the lives of some 300,000 cats, saying they misleadingly depicted the small island nation abroad as a “feline cemetery.” Nektaria Ioannou Arsenoglou says the numbers presented by local animal activists and amplified by foreign media outlets “simply don’t add up” since a survey by the association only indicates an island-wide total of around 8,000 such deaths. Arsenoglou told the Associated Press Wednesday the local mutation of Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP), the feline version of the coronavirus, is primarily spread through contact with cat feces but cannot be passed on to humans.