Why Hamsters are the most skeptical of the recent spread of Coronavirus

You can add mammals to a long list of animals known to have the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Officials in Hong Kong have confirmed the spread of the hamster by humans from a pet market, although it is not known if these hamsters infected people with the virus. With many disputes, Hong Kong is now planning to kill 2,000 domestic animals exported by other rodents, and is appealing to owners who recently purchased the animals to submit them for testing and possible outbreaks.

Earlier this week, officials in Hong Kong’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation announced that at least 11 hamsters and one staff member at the Little Boss ranch in Causeway Bay had contracted a coronavirus, along with a customer who visited the store on January 7. .the client’s husband also did a recent test, the New York Times reports). Thursday, they reports that two other people who had visited the zoo contracted the virus, and infected hamsters were also infected. Symptoms of the virus also appeared to be found in one of the barn where these hamsters were stored before reaching the store.

Authorities have confirmed that it is not clear whether the hamsters were responsible for the human rights abuses in the area. But Hong Kong remains one of the few countries that still wants to curb the spread of the virus as far as possible. Following the lawsuit, officials announced the removal of hamsters, pigs, and other rats from all pens sent by December 22, 2021.

“They are releasing the virus, and the virus can infect other animals, other hamsters and humans,” Thomas Sit, Hong Kong’s Agriculture Assistant, Fisheries and Conservation chief executive, told the New York Times. “We do not want to kill all the animals, but we must protect human health and the health of the animals. There is nothing we can do — we must make our own choice. ”

Many species of animals can be infected with the coronavirus, including cats, dogs, deer, and mink. And in at least one lab, the hamsters also became infected. In most of these cases, however, humans are the cause of the epidemics, and the risk of human transmission to the human race is considered insignificant. That said, other countries will also take preventive measures during the epidemic. In particular, Denmark killed all mink owners – about 17 million animals – last year after a pandemic spread to mink farms, as well as seer that minks also transmitted the virus to working people.

The idea of ​​Denmark was not only appreciated worldwide at the time, but also of Hong Kong. Animal rights groups and citizen condemns eviction and forced government officials to provide rats exported by the end of December – the latest sign of conflict on Hong Kong’s zero-covid principles. Some volunteer groups are trying to do just that to save hamsters records of death. But in the meantime, the government does not seem to be changing. Yesterday, officials from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department made it clear that they would do so opposition human efforts to save the hamster, which may include police intervention.