Cyprus allows human COVID-19 medications to be used on cats to fight deadly virus mutation

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Veterinarians in Cyprus are lauding a government decision to allow its stock of human COVID-19 medication to be used against a feline virus that has killed thousands of cats on the Mediterranean island. The association for animal doctors said Friday that it had petitioned the government for access to the medication at “reasonable prices” from the beginning of this year. That’s when the mutation that causes lethal Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) began to noticeably crop up in the island’s cat population. Activists said the high price of the medication put it out of reach of many cat care givers. Spread through contact with cat feces, neither the virus nor its mutation can be passed on to humans.