Wed 19 January 2022:
After a new cluster of COVID-19 cases was traced to a pet shop, Hong Kong ordered the cull of 2,000 hamsters on Tuesday and warned pet owners not to kiss animals.
The human Delta variant outbreak linked to the shop worker prompted tests on hundreds of animals, with 11 hamsters testing positive.
This has resulted in a pet rodent ban in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, which is adopting the mainland’s zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19 even as the rest of the world adjusts to living with it.
At a news conference, The territory’s Health Secretary Sophia Chan emphasized that there is no evidence that domestic animals can transmit the disease to humans, but authorities were still acting cautiously by prohibiting the importation and sale of pet rodents.
“Pet owners should keep a good hygiene practice, including washing hands after touching the animals, handling their food or other items, and avoid kissing the animals,” Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department director Leung Siu-fai Leung also told reporters.
“If citizens are raising hamsters, they should keep them at home. Do not bring them out.”
Hundreds of samples were collected from animals also including rabbits and chinchillas, but only the hamsters have tested positive so far.
“To be careful, we will take preventive measures against any transmission possibilities that we cannot rule out,” said Chan.
Hong Kong has hundreds of new cases in humans this year after three months without local transmission, prompting tighter restrictions on flights and social life.
Thousands of individuals have been detained at a makeshift government facility. The majority of the new cases are of the extremely contagious novel Omicron strain, while a Delta cluster linked to a pet shop employee has been identified.
Around 2,000 hamsters will be put down “humanely” at 34 pet shops and storage facilities, according to Leung. He said that anyone who buys a hamster after December 22, 2021 should give it to authorities for culling rather than leaving it on the streets.
A hotline for COVID-19 questions about hamsters is also being established.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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