A woman pushes a stroller with two dogs wearing masks along a street in Shanghai on February 19, 2020.
Noel Celis | AFP | Getty Images
World Health Organization officials said a dog in Hong Kong that had tested positive for the coronavirus is doing well and hasn’t developed any symptoms.
The older male dog tested, which tested “weakly positive” for COVID-19 in late February, is the only canine in the world with a confirmed infection, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of WHO’s emergencies program. The dog reportedly belongs to a 60-year-old woman who developed symptoms on Feb. 12 and later tested positive for COVID-19, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Despite the diagnosis, she said, there’s no evidence of human-to-dog or dog-to-human transmission.
“We’re only aware of this one animal that has tested positive and he’s doing well,” Kerkhove said at a press conference at WHO’s headquarters in Geneva on Thursday. “In terms of what this means for transmission, we don’t believe this is a major driver of transmission.”
Kerkhove said the WHO is working closely with Hong Kong authorities, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health to determine how COVID-19 might affect animals.
WHO will continue to study the case and will work with the agency’s partners to address further questions, she said.
Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies program, added that it is not unusual to find animals that are infected with emerging diseases.
“We’re back to the core question: Are animals intimately associated with the spread of this disease? And the answer to that is no,” Ryan said. “In this case, this dog was a victim more than others, and we need to establish quite clearly what part animals might play in further transmission.”
After the dog was found, the Hong Kong government said it would quarantine all domesticated animals in a holding facility if their owners test positive and were quarantined for COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests pet owners restrict contact with pets if the owner is infected with COVID-19. That includes “petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food.”
CNBC.com
