Coronavirus: Hong Kong confirms a second dog is infected
- The German shepherd owned by a Covid-19 patient is in quarantine, along with another dog from the same home
- It is ‘very likely’ the two positive canine cases are examples of human-to-animal transmission, says virologist
A second dog with an infected owner has caught the coronavirus, Hong Kong’s animal welfare authority confirmed on Thursday.
The two-year-old German shepherd lived with a person diagnosed with Covid-19 in Pok Fu Lam and was sent to quarantine on Wednesday, along with a four-year-old mixed-breed dog from the same home. The dogs were kept in separate kennels at the government facility.
Oral and nasal swabs taken on Wednesday and Thursday returned positive readings for the German shepherd, but were negative for the other dog.
Neither animal had shown any signs of the Covid-19 disease, according to an Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) spokesman, who added that it would “closely monitor both dogs and conduct repeated tests on the animals”.
Animal health expert Professor Vanessa Barrs from City University had previously urged the public not to panic, as there was no evidence people could be infected by their pets. She also cited the Sars experience of 2003, which suggested cats and dogs would not become sick or transmit the virus to humans.