A dog in Hong Kong was quarantined due to COVID-19. (Image via 9janews24)

COVID-19 infects dog in Hong Kong

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Medical and Health
Mar 05, 2020
1287
Not bat, not pangolins. A dog in Hong Kong was tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), opening a new possibility that the virus might spread to pets. Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD) stated last week that it had extracted liquid nasal, oral, and rectal samples from the infected canine.

Despite the result that showed “weak positive”, the dog is the first pet in the world tested positive for the COVID-19. It started on 26 February when AFCD received the information from Hong Kong’s Health Ministry regarding a dog belonging to a COVID-19 patient.

AFCD staff then picked up the dog from a flat in Tai Hang and sent it to a pet daycare in Hong Kong Bay.

On Friday last week, the dog has been quarantined for regular check-ups until the test showed negative. AFCD advised that the quarantine process should last 14 days. Sadly, the only animal in the daycare quarantined for the virus.

Despite the finding, both AFCD and the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed that there was no strong evidence that a pet such as canine and feline could be infected by COVID-19. AFCD will test the dog further to see whether the dog was really infected by the coronavirus or a mere environmental factor.

Source: https://bit.ly/32OTvpQ

Medical , Health , Disease , Pulmonary , Pneumonia , Coronavirus , COVID-19 , Pet , Dog , Canine , Asia , Hong-Kong