Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). From the epidemiological data, the picture emerges that the more severe etiopathologies among COVID-19 patients are found in elderly people. The risk of death due to COVID-19 increases exponentially with age. Eight out of 10 COVID-19 related deaths occur in people older than 65 years of age. Older patients with comorbid conditions such as hypertension, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer have a much higher case fatality rate. Governments and public health authorities all over the world have realized that protections of vulnerable older adults should be a priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease. The SARS-CoV-2 virus was originally transmitted likely from a bat or a pangolin to humans. Recent evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2, similar to other coronaviruses, can infect several species of animals, including companion animals such as dogs, cats, and ferrets although their viral loads remain low. While the main source of infection transmission therefore is human to human, there are a few rare cases of pets contracting the infection from a SARS-CoV-2-infected human. Although there is no evidence that pets actively transmit SARS-CoV-2 via animal-to-human transmission, senior pet ownership potentially may pose a small risk to older adults by (1) potentially enabling animal-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the most vulnerable population and (2) by increasing the exposition risk for the elderly due to the necessity to care for the pet and, in the case of dogs, to take them outside the house several times per day. In this overview, the available evidence on SARS-CoV-2 infection in pets is considered and the potential for spread of COVID-19 from companion animals to older individuals and the importance of prevention are discussed.

冠状病毒病2019（COVID-19）是由新型严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）引起的高度传染性传染病。从流行病学数据来看，图片表明在老年人中发现了COVID-19患者中更严重的病因。COVID-19导致的死亡风险随年龄增长成倍增加。在与COVID-19相关的10例死亡中，有8例发生在65岁以上的人群中。患有合并症的老年患者，例如高血压，心力衰竭，糖尿病，哮喘，慢性阻塞性肺疾病和癌症，病死率更高。全世界的政府和公共卫生当局已经意识到，在COVID-19大流行期间，保护弱势老年人应该成为优先事项。COVID-19是一种人畜共患病。SARS-CoV-2病毒最初可能是从蝙蝠或穿山甲病毒传播给人类的。最新证据表明，SARS-CoV-2与其他冠状病毒相似，尽管病毒载量仍然很低，但可以感染多种动物，包括狗，猫和雪貂等伴侣动物。因此，虽然主要的传染源是人与人之间的传播，但也有少数罕见的宠物感染了SARS-CoV-2感染的人。尽管没有证据表明宠物通过动物向人的传播途径主动传播SARS-CoV-2，但高级宠物所有权可能通过以下方式对老年人造成较小的风险：（1）潜在地使SARS-CoV从动物向人传播-2在最脆弱的人群中；（2）由于需要照顾宠物而增加了老年人的暴露风险，并且 如果是狗，每天要把它们带出屋子几次。在本概述中，考虑了宠物中SARS-CoV-2感染的可用证据，并讨论了COVID-19从伴侣动物传播到年龄较大的个体的可能性以及预防的重要性。