Post by M. Hawbaker on Feb 28, 2020 17:42:10 GMT
HONG KONG - The pet dog of a coronavirus patient was placed in quarantine on Wednesday after testing "weak positive" for the virus in Hong Kong, according to a government press release on Friday.
If confirmed, it would mark the first case of the virus in a pet animal, as infected numbers topped 82,000 worldwide on Friday and sent U.S. stock markets to their biggest daily drop in history yesterday.
"At present, the AFCD [Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department] does not have evidence that pet animals can be infected with COVID-19 virus or can be a source of infection to people," a department spokesman said.
If confirmed, it would mark the first case of the virus in a pet animal, as infected numbers topped 82,000 worldwide on Friday and sent U.S. stock markets to their biggest daily drop in history yesterday.
"At present, the AFCD [Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department] does not have evidence that pet animals can be infected with COVID-19 virus or can be a source of infection to people," a department spokesman said.
AFCD staff picked up the dog from an apartment in the city and sent it to an animal keeping facility where oral, nasal and rectal samples were collected -- that tested positive for low levels of COVID-19. The dog doesn't have any symptoms of the virus, but the virus can reportedly spread without them showing up.
