Hong Kong has ordered to kill thousands of hamsters and temporarily suspend imports of small animals after finding evidence for the first time traces of possible animal-to-human transmission of the Covid virus in the city.
The order includes pets that were bought days before Christmas be handed over, with a warning not to “kiss or abandon them on the street” as Hong Kong and mainland China attempt to sustain a zero Covid strategy, attempting to suppress all outbreaks internally while maintaining tight border controls with the outside world.
Authorities announced on Tuesday that traces of the virus were detected on 11 hamsters out of 178 hamsters, rabbits and chinchillas tested at the Little Boss pet shop and associated warehouse in Causeway Bay while investigating the city’s first untraceable Delta variant diagnosis in more than three months, in a 23-year-old store employee.
Two employees were also confirmed to have the disease, including one who cleans out the animal cages and handles the hamsters.
The virus transmission claim comes a day after the Chinese authorities blamed an untraceable lone Omicron variant case in Beijing on a package sent from Canada, via the US and Hong Kong.
The order includes pets that were bought days before Christmas be handed over, with a warning not to “kiss or abandon them on the street” as Hong Kong and mainland China attempt to sustain a zero Covid strategy, attempting to suppress all outbreaks internally while maintaining tight border controls with the outside world.
Authorities announced on Tuesday that traces of the virus were detected on 11 hamsters out of 178 hamsters, rabbits and chinchillas tested at the Little Boss pet shop and associated warehouse in Causeway Bay while investigating the city’s first untraceable Delta variant diagnosis in more than three months, in a 23-year-old store employee.
Two employees were also confirmed to have the disease, including one who cleans out the animal cages and handles the hamsters.
The virus transmission claim comes a day after the Chinese authorities blamed an untraceable lone Omicron variant case in Beijing on a package sent from Canada, via the US and Hong Kong.
