Original article: UC Davis professor says his half-century of work studying the coronavirus is being neglected;(27.2.2020)
Translation: 18.1.2021
After half a century of studying the virus, a 76-year-old doctor was able to come up with a vaccine for cats two years ago.
DAVIS, Calif. - Coronavirus is associated with COVID-19 in the minds of many people around the world, but doctors say coronaviruses have been with us for decades.
Professor Dr. Niels Pedersen of UC Davis in California studied the virus for half a century. His focus? A specific strain occurring in cats causing feline infectious preitonitis (FIP).
"At one time it was a relatively unusual disease, but highly fatal for cats, full of mysteries and therefore very interesting," Pedersen explained. "So, among other things, I made it my life's work."
After half a century of studying the virus, a 76-year-old doctor was able to come up with a vaccine that is currently being used effectively to treat cats.
It is a drug that he thinks could be used to treat coronavirus in humans, but it is not a cheap affair for pet owners.
"The treatment consists of giving an injection for 12 weeks, which can cost up to $ 10,000, but there are thousands of people who have already treated their cats," he said.
However, Pedersen says his research and work are being ignored.
"It's also strange that much of what we've already learned through FIP in cats at this time can be applied to human COVID-19, but it's overlooked," Pedersen said.
Pedersen said that if a vaccine is currently being prepared for humans, public health officials do not necessarily have to rediscover the wheel.
"Knowledge about these vaccines can be used for all vaccines that will be developed for humans in the future," Pedersen explained.
Watch the conversation at Facebook with Lena Howland.
EN 
SK