Hong Kong officials have ordered a culling of hamsters on Tuesday after a small portion of them tested positive for COVID-19.
Authorities told both pet shops and owners on Tuesday to hand over a total of 2,000 hamsters for selective euthanization after 11 hamsters tested positive. At least two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in connection to a pet store hosting said hamsters.
“We urge all pet owners to observe strict hygiene when handling their pets and cages. Do not kiss or abandon them on the streets,” Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Leung Siu-fai said in a press conference.
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Leung said that all owners who had purchased hamsters since Dec. 22 would have to turn the animals over to officials. The owners will also be subjected to mandatory testing. If they or their hamsters test positive, they will be subjected to quarantine.
Leung encouraged owners to take their pets to the vet or contact his department for help if owners detected any health anomalies.
One of the pet shop workers was diagnosed earlier with the city’s first case of the delta variant in three months, officials said. It is also what officials suspect to be the first case of animals transmitting COVID-19 to humans in Hong Kong, an unnamed source told the South China Morning Post.
“Genome sequencing [done on the worker’s virus sample] found that the genome type was the one circulating in Europe and Pakistan,” the source said. “There is a chance [of infection] through hamsters imported from the Netherlands, which also had that genome type [found on the worker]. That’s why it’s very likely that the transmission this time is from animals to humans.”
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Hong Kong has been dealing with the spread of the omicron variant after several flight crew members dined at various restaurants before testing positive for COVID-19. At least two flight attendants were arrested on Monday after breaching the city’s COVID-19 rules.
