Coronavirus: latest Hong Kong pets to test positive for Covid-19 are Scottish shorthair cat, Yorkshire terrier dog
- The two new cases bring the total number of known infections in Hong Kong animals to eight so far
- Hong Kong reported the world’s first confirmed case of Covid-19 in an animal, a Pomeranian, back in February
Two more family pets tested positive for Covid-19, pushing the total number of confirmed infections among Hong Kong animals to eight so far, the authorities reported on Wednesday.
The latest cases were a Scottish shorthair cat and a Yorkshire terrier that lived in Tsuen Wan and Sham Shui Po, respectively. Their owners were close contacts of confirmed Covid-19 patients, according to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD).
“When the owners were found to be close contacts of confirmed Covid-19 cases, the cat and the dog were sent for quarantine at the AFCD on July 31,” said the department in a statement.
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“Samples collected from the cat and the dog by the department tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. However, neither of the animals has shown any symptoms at present. The AFCD will continue to closely monitor them and conduct repeated testing.”
The AFCD recently opened a new animal quarantine site in Sha Tin after its facility at the Hong Kong Port at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge was flooded with pets amid the city’s third wave of infections.
An AFCD spokesman said that there was currently no evidence that pets played a role in the spread of human Covid-19 infections.