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Officials said the Pomeranian had a ‘low-level infection’ after it repeatedly tested ‘weak positive’. Photo: Facebook

Coronavirus: Hong Kong authorities insist pet dog of Covid-19 patient is infected, although some experts say blood test results needed for confirmation

  • Government consulted international experts to reach the conclusion that it was a case of ‘low-level infection’, senior official says
  • WHO officials say more studies needed to establish possible transmission involved in the dog’s case
Hong Kong’s animal welfare authority insisted on Thursday that a Covid-19 patient’s pet dog was infected with the coronavirus, despite some experts saying that further blood test results are needed to confirm the first human-to-animal transmission of the disease.

Dr Thomas Sit Hon-chung, assistant director of inspection and quarantine at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, said officials had consulted international experts to reach the conclusion that it was a case of “low-level infection”, after the dog repeatedly tested “weak positive” over the past few days.

“We discussed with other experts worldwide in this field. And we are pretty sure that this dog has a low level of infection, and it is confirmed,” he said.

“I believe using the word ‘confirmed’ or ‘infected’ is suitable.”

The initial “weak-positive” reading suggested surface contamination based on mouth and nasal swabs, instead of actual infection, but Sit said that after repeated testing experts were satisfied with the conclusion, even though blood test results were still pending.

“It is unlikely to be contamination,” Sit said. “If it was contamination, [the dog’s nasal or oral mechanism] should have a way to clean the viruses. It would not stay for that long if it was just contamination.”

The 17-year-old Pomeranian was picked up at the home of a Covid-19 patient on February 26, but samples taken from the animal’s nasal cavity on March 2 still tested positive, according to Sit.

A blood sample was taken from the dog on March 3 for further testing to detect antibodies specific to the coronavirus, and it would take at least five to seven days for the results.

Sit added that the University of Hong Kong (HKU) was also analysing the genetic map of the virus found in the dog, and would compare samples from the owner to ascertain if the virus had mutated.

While there was no evidence so far that the dog could infect other animals, Sit said, researchers from HKU were looking into any possibility.

Vets had been urged to stay vigilant, and pets of infected owners would need to be quarantined at the department’s facility, he added.

Professor Vanessa Barrs is among several animal health experts that the government has consulted over the dog’s case. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

On a practical note, he said, dogs were not suited to wear masks to prevent infection, as they relied on their tongues to cool down.

World Health Organisation officials later told a regular press briefing that more studies would be needed to establish the possible transmission involved in the dog’s case.

“We are back to the core question: are animals intimately associated with the spread of the disease?” Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies programme, said.

“The answer is no. In this case, this dog is a victim more than others.

“We need to establish clearly what part pets or animals might play in further transmission. That is unknown. This is not an unusual or unprecedented finding. It happens regularly with emerging diseases.”

When asked if governments should quarantine the pets of infected owners, Ryan said the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) were actively tracking the situation after Hong Kong authorities officially reported the case.

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“At this moment, we don’t believe there is any need for a change in policy based on the evidence we have. But we will continue to work with OIE to see if there is a need for a change in our public health advice,” Ryan said, adding that follow-up studies were under way.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department “strongly advised” that pets of infected owners be quarantined for 14 days after the Pomeranian tested “weak positive”.

Professor Vanessa Barrs of City University, one of the animal health experts that the department consulted, told the Post that further blood test results were needed to confirm the diagnosis.

“If the blood test for antibodies is positive, it means that the low-level infection is confirmed,” she said. “If the test is negative, it means either the dog was not infected, or that it had such a mild infection that it did not make antibodies.”

Barrs urged the public not to panic, as there was no evidence people could be infected by their pets.

“The positive result in the dog indicates that the transmission is likely from its infected household instead of the other way around.”

She noted that during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic of 2003, a handful of dogs and cats had tested positive for the virus, but they did not fall ill and there was no evidence of animal-to-human transmission.

Zhu Guoqiang, a professor from the College of Veterinary Medicine of Yangzhou University, questioned if the virus sample from the Pomeranian was of the same strain found in humans.

“This can only be answered by blood tests, as well as genome sequencing,” he told the Post.

Lu Yanli, a professor from the College of Veterinary Medicine of China Agricultural University, was quoted by Chinese media as saying the significance of the case was about raising the alarm and not a confirmation of pets being susceptible to infection.

“This is only an individual case. It’s a low level of infection and we cannot distinguish whether it is the virus that got on the dog’s nose, or it is a one-time infection, meaning that the dog’s immune system may have already killed the virus,” Lu said.

The government on Wednesday said experts from HKU, CityU and the OIE had all “unanimously agreed that these results suggest that the dog has a low level of infection and it is likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission”.

Additional reporting by Alvin Lum and Alice Yan

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Covid-19 patient’s dog infected, not just contaminated, authorities insist
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