Coronavirus: 2,000 hamsters to be culled over fears of first animal-to-human transmission in Hong Kong, pet store customers ordered into quarantine
- Government also orders all 34 licensed pet stores that sell hamsters to suspend operations
- Two people tied to Little Boss pet shop confirmed as infected and 150 customers ordered into quarantine
Officials on Tuesday also ordered all 34 licensed pet stores that sell hamsters to suspend operations and about 150 customers who had visited the Little Boss shop in Causeway Bay since January 7 to enter quarantine. Pet owners whose hamsters test positive must also be isolated as well.
While animal welfare groups expressed shock at the “drastic action”, authorities and health experts stressed the risks to public health made the cull necessary. Two people tied to the Little Boss shop have been confirmed as infected and another is listed as a suspected case, while 11 hamsters from the store were categorised as preliminary-positive.
The cull order applies to all hamsters bought in Hong Kong since December 22, when a shipment of the animals arrived from the Netherlands and they were transferred to a Little Boss warehouse in Tai Po. A second shipment arrived on January 7.