Hong Kong: Dog Get Coronavirus

A pet Pomeranian dog has tested positive for the coronavirus after its owner became infected with the killer disease in Hong Kong.

'Nasal and oral cavity samples were tested weak positive to COVID-19 virus [sic],' an Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said, without explaining why they tested the animal in the first place.

The dog was collected from the owner's home on Wednesday, after the woman was diagnosed with the contagion and placed in a hospital isolation ward.

The canine has no 'relevant symptoms', the AFCD said.

Local media said the owner of the dog is a businesswoman named Yvonne Chow Hau Yee. AFP separately reported the dog's owner is 60 years old.

The pooch is the only dog at the quarantine facility, which is based in near Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, according to dimsumdaily.

The dog will be kept at the centre for 14 days. Repeated tests will be done until the dog is cleared of the virus.

'It would be closely monitored and undergo further tests to confirm if it really has the virus or if 'this is a result of environmental contamination of the dog's mouth and nose,' the AFCD said.

In a statement the agency said: 'The AFCD does not have evidence that pet animals can be infected with COVID-19 virus or can be a source of infection to people.'

While there is no evidence domestic animals such as dogs and cats can catch the virus or transmit it to humans, the department said pets of infected people should be quarantined for 14 days.

The spokesman said all pet owners should maintain a good habit of hygiene and wash their hands after having contact with their pets.

They added that pet owners should wear masks when going out and if their pets experience a change in health then they should go to the vets.

It is believed to be the first case of a pet having the virus and comes as cases worldwide continue to be identified.

Dr. Niels Pedersen, a professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and a expert on infectious and immunologic diseases in dogs and cats, wrote in a post on the UC Davis website: 'You won’t get or give the coronavirus to your family pet.'

'They [coronaviruses] tend to be very species specific and cross-species transmission is uncommon,' he added.

'The Wuhan coronavirus appears to have successfully adapted to humans (i.e., it has become humanized) and is therefore looming as an even more severe disease problem than MERS and SARS [...]

'There is no evidence that coronaviruses of our common veterinary species have entered humans in the recent past or vice versa.

'However, the tendency for coronaviruses to jump species is an ongoing occurrence and it is possible that a coronavirus from a common pet species such as a cat or dog may enter humans and cause disease sometime in the future.

'If it should ever humanize, it will no longer be a cat or dog virus, but rather a new human virus.'

Owner Hau Yee was said to have developed symptoms on the 20th and was diagnosed with the coronavirus five days later. Local media reported that she went out to drink tea and attended a wedding while infected.

The financial hub has confirmed 93 cases of the new coronavirus, with two deaths earlier this month.

The epidemic, which emerged in central China in December, has infected more than 83,000 people globally.

---dailymail.co.uk