Pets in voluntary household quarantine

Weese JS, Kruth SA. Pets in voluntary household quarantine. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2006 Jun [date cited]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol12no06/05-1548.htm
[Excerpts]
We now know that domestic cats and ferrets are susceptible to experimental infection by the SARS coronavirus and that they can transmit this virus to other cats and ferrets (3). What would have happened if cats were naturally infected in households and could transmit infection to humans or other animals? Were measures in place to reduce the risk for this transmission and detect it had it occurred? If SARS had established itself in the feral cat population in affected cities, would it have been controllable? ...

Development of community-based quarantine protocols that consider the role of domestic animals in transmission of disease remains a gap in current preparedness planning activities. We believe that the potential role of household pets should be considered in transmission of all emerging infectious diseases. This would include promptly and thoroughly evaluating the susceptibility of pets of various species to clinical disease and subclinical infection and assessing the possibility of transmission of pathogens between humans and pets, in both directions. Community-based quarantine measures may need to address contingency protocols for placing household pets in quarantine as well as human family members.