Hong Kong will kill more than 2,000 hamsters purchased from a local pet shop after they tested positive for COVID-19.New York Times reported.
Hong Kong will also impose a ban of import of hamsters after a pet shop worker, a customer and at least 11 hamsters tested positive for the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus, The New York Times said.
“Evidence shows that the hamsters are infected with the COVID-19 virus. It is impossible to quarantine and observe each of them and their incubation period could be long,” Leung Siu-fai, the director of Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, said in a statement about the government’s decision.
China has declared that it will not tolerate COVID, and Tuesday officials announced that the hamsters would be released. “humanely”be put down Reuters reported.
The New York Times reported that officials added that it was not clear if the virus spread from humans or imported hamsters.
“They’re excreting the virus, and the virus can infect other animals, other hamsters and also human beings,” said Thomas Sit, assistant director of Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation department. “We don’t want to cull all the animals, but we have to protect public health and animal health. We have no choice — we have to make a firm decision.”
The hamsters reportedly came from the Netherlands and were traced to Hong Kong’s Little Boss pet store, according to the New York Post.
Two groups of infected small animals arrived in Hong Kong on December 22, 2021, and Jan 7, 2022. According to the New York Post: Hamster owners who purchased hamsters after Dec. 22, were required to turn their pets over to authorities.
All of the hamsters in Hong Kong’s 34 licensed pet stores will be seized and tested by the government.