Hong Kong will cull thousands of hamsters after Covid cases in a pet shop - Suspicion of animal to human transmission

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/18/world/asia/covid-hong-kong-hamsters.html

Hong Kong will cull thousands of hamsters after Covid cases in a pet shop.
By Austin Ramzy
Jan. 18, 2022, 5:56 a.m. ET

Hong Kong will cull more than 2,000 hamsters and ban the import of small animals after a pet shop worker, a customer and at least 11 hamsters tested positive for the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

Officials said on Tuesday that it was not clear that the virus had been transmitted to humans from imported hamsters. But they called on residents to surrender hamsters imported since Dec. 22 to be tested and euthanized to prevent any further spread.

“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...

 

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[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong.../coronavirus-hong-kong-hamster-cull-commences

Coronavirus: Hong Kong hamster cull starts, with owners dropping off their pets at government facility in Sha Tin
The owners say they were asked to sign a document forfeiting their right to compensation and pledging not to inquire after the hamsters again
‘I still do not want to let it go at this moment, but there are no other solutions,’ one owner says. ‘Although it is just a hamster, it’s still a life’
Nadia Lam and Fiona Sun
Published: 4:50pm, 19 Jan, 2022
Updated: 7:04pm, 19 Jan, 2022

Hong Kong hamster owners have begun heeding the government’s call to surrender their pets for a massive cull sparked by suspicions of a possible animal-to-human transmission of Covid-19.

The announcement of the cull was met with widespread opposition, with more than 25,000 signing a petition calling for it to be scrapped, but leading epidemiologists on Wednesday urged the general public to be understanding of the need to contain the health risk believed to be posed by the tiny rodents.

On Wednesday morning, about a dozen residents showed up at the New Territories South Animal Management Centre in Sha Tin to hand over their hamsters to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department...

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Source: https://manilastandard.net/news/314...s-cull-of-hamsters-small-pets-over-covid.html

Source: https://www.france24.com/en/live-ne...g-kong-s-mass-cull-of-hamsters-and-small-pets

Fury over Hong Kong’s mass cull of hamsters, small pets over COVID
AFP
January 19, 2022

Hong Kong’s government faced outrage Wednesday over its decision to cull hundreds of small animals after hamsters in a store tested positive for COVID-19.

Like China, Hong Kong maintains a staunch “zero-COVID” policy, stamping out the merest trace of the virus with contact tracing, mass testing, strict quarantines and prolonged social-distancing rules.

Their latest measures target hamsters and other small mammals – including chinchillas, rabbits and guinea pigs – which authorities on Tuesday said will be culled as a “precautionary measure.”

The drastic move came after hamsters sold at the Little Boss pet shop tested positive for the Delta variant – now rare in Hong Kong.

Officials dressed in full PPE gear carried red garbage bags marked with biohazard warnings out of the shop on Tuesday night.

Authorities “strongly encouraged” anyone who bought a hamster after December 22 – right before Christmas – to give up their pet for culling.

Animal lovers across Hong Kong reacted with alarm: a Change.org petition garnered more than 23,000 signatures in less than a day, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) denounced the decision.

“The SPCA is shocked and concerned over the recent announcement about the handling of over 2,000 animals,” it said in a statement sent to AFP Wednesday.

“We urge pet owners not to panic or abandon their pets.”...

 

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[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.thestandard.com.hk/sect...-and-anger---as-some-hamsters-saved-from-cull

Tears, relief - and anger - as some hamsters saved from cull
Top News | 21 Jan 2022
Wallis Wang

Animal lovers went to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department's offices in Sha Tin yesterday to stop people from handing in their hamsters.

Around 10 of them offered to adopt the pets instead - a day after 60 hamsters were sent to the AFCD.

It followed an appeal to those who bought the tiny animals on December 22 onward to turn them over so they could be tested and put down due to the Delta outbreak at the Little Boss pet shop in Causeway Bay that involved at least three patients.

A man, Jacky, was one of those who gave up his hamster to an animal volunteer. He said he bought the hamster in a pet shop in Mong Kok.

"I underwent a Covid test [on Wednesday] and the result was negative. But I still wanted to be a responsible [person] by handing in the hamster," he said.

"I can understand the volunteers' motivation. I actually wanted to hand in my hamster to the government but the volunteers took it away."

At least 15 hamsters were taken away by the volunteers in the morning. They will be sent to veterinarians for examination and then offered for adoption.

One of the volunteers said some people were in tears when they thanked them for helping their pets get adopted. But some refused to give the hamsters to them and warned they would call police.

Meanwhile, experts Yuen Kwok-yung and David Hui Shu-cheong received threatening e-mails after supporting the cull.

The intimidation was "strongly condemned" by the government, which said it will show no tolerance if anyone attempts to influence experts by illegal means.

The AFCD said a total of 1,213 small animals were put down on Wednesday.

 

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[Pathfinder]

Immediate notification
SARS-CoV-2 in animals (Inf. with), Hong Kong
...
General Information

COUNTRY OR ZONE
COUNTRY

DISEASE
SARS-CoV-2 in animals (Inf. with)

STARTED ON
16-01-2022

ANIMAL TYPE
TERRESTRIAL

CONFIRMED ON
18-01-2022

REASON
Emerging disease

CAUSAL AGENT
SARS-CoV-2

ENDED ON
-

DISEASE CATEGORY
Emerging

REPORTED ON
21-01-2022

LAST OCCURRENCE
-

Disease Impact

EVENT MORBIDITY (%)
0.86

ZOONOTONIC POTENTIAL
YES

ZOONOTIC POTENTIAL DESCRIPTION
Based on the current epidemiological findings, there is suspicion of animal to human transmission.

EVENT MORTALITY (%)
-

Epidemiology

SOURCE OF EVENT OR ORIGIN OF INFECTION
- Unknown or inconclusive


EPIDEMIOLOGICAL COMMENTS
SARS-CoV-2 was detected in multiple hamsters and/or environmental swabs from a pet shop and its warehouse. The samples were collected because a staff at the petshop (who had not been to the warehouse) was tested positive for COVID-19 and was found to be infected with a Delta strain of virus that has never been detected in Hong Kong. All animals (small mammals – hamsters, mice, guinea pigs, chinchillas, rabbits) in the pet shop and warehouse were humanely dispatched to minimize the potential risks of COVID-19 infection and safeguard public safety. Hamsters from all pet shops in Hong Kong will also be taken for testing and humane dispatch and the other animals of these pet shops will also undergo testing. Business is suspended until there is satisfactory results. Import of small mammals has also been suspended. As the hamsters from the index pet shop were imported from Europe with the last two consignments arriving on 22/12/21 and 7/1/22, members of public are also urged to surrender their hamsters purchased from local pet shops after 22/12/21 to the government for testing and humane dispatch. Further testing and epidemiological investigation is continuing. Members of public and the veterinary community will be kept abreast of the development via government announcements.
...

Outbreaks

ob_95878 - Causeway bay
down
OUTBREAK REFERENCE
22-00748, 22-00749

STARTED ON
17-01-2022

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL UNIT
Other

NUMBER OF OUTBREAKS
-

ENDED ON
18-01-2022

AFFECTED POPULATION DESCRIPTION
A staff of this pet shop was diagnosed with COVID-19 on 17/1/22. Subsequently, samples from 50 hamsters were collected for SARS-CoV-2 testing and the virus was detected in oral and faecal samples from seven hamsters with no observable clinical signs in this pet shop, other small mammals in the pet shop including rabbits and chinchillas were tested to be negative. To minimize the potential risks of COVID-19 infection and safeguard public safety, all 97 animals in the shop were humanely dispatched on 18/1/22.

APPROXIMATE LOCATION
Causeway bay

FIRST ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION
Wan Chai

SECOND ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION
-

THIRD ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION
-

GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES
Lat : 22.27983

Long : 114.18523


SPECIES MEASURING UNIT SUSCEPTIBLE CASES DEATHS KILLED AND DISPOSED OF SLAUGHTERED/KILLED FOR COMMERCIAL USE VACCINATED
Cricetidae (unidentified) (Cricetidae (incognita)):Cricetidae-Rodentia NEW Animal 69 7 0 69 0 0
TOTAL Animal 69 7 0 69 0 0
- NEW Animal 69 7 0 69 0 0
TOTAL Animal 69 7 0 69 0 0
CONTROL MEASURES DIFFERENT FROM EVENT LEVEL
ADDITIONAL MEASURES
-

MEASURES NOT IMPLEMENTED
-


ob_95877 - Tai Po

OUTBREAK REFERENCE
WHP5292

STARTED ON
17-01-2022

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL UNIT
Other

NUMBER OF OUTBREAKS
-

ENDED ON
19-01-2022

AFFECTED POPULATION DESCRIPTION
This warehouse stores small mammals and supplies to 35 pet shops selling hamsters in Hong Kong including the pet shop in causeway bay which a staff had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Samples from 79 hamsters were collected and oral sample from one hamster in the warehouse was tested SARS-COV-2 positive, samples from other small mammals including mice, rabbits and guinea pigs were tested negative. Among the 863 hamsters in the warehouse, four were found dead and two were found to be weak, others with no observable clinical signs. It is uncertain whether this has any relation to the virus. To minimize the potential risks of COVID-19 infection and safeguard public safety, all 1116 animals in the warehouse were humanely dispatched.

APPROXIMATE LOCATION
Tai Po

FIRST ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION
Tai Po

SECOND ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION
-

THIRD ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION
-

GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES
Lat : 22.45687

Long : 114.16683


SPECIES MEASURING UNIT SUSCEPTIBLE CASES DEATHS KILLED AND DISPOSED OF SLAUGHTERED/KILLED FOR COMMERCIAL USE VACCINATED
Cricetidae (unidentified) (Cricetidae (incognita)):Cricetidae-Rodentia NEW Animal 863 1 - 863 0 0
TOTAL Animal 863 1 - 863 0 0
- NEW Animal 863 1 - 863 0 0
TOTAL Animal 863 1 - 863 0 0

...
https://wahis.oie.int/#/report-info?reportId=47079

 

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[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202201/23/P2022012300273.htm


Hamster surrendered by citizen tested positive for COVID-19 virus
************************************************** ***


The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) today (January 23) announced that a hamster surrendered by a member of the public tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

An AFCD spokesman said, "During the period from January 17 to 22, the AFCD collected 1 793 animal samples for COVID-19 virus tests. Samples were collected from hamsters surrendered by members of the public, hamsters and small animals collected from all pet shops in Hong Kong selling hamsters and a warehouse in Tai Po. All the tests have been completed. Results show that among the 113 samples taken from hamsters surrendered by members of the public, two samples drawn from a hamster collected on January 19 tested positive. The Centre for Health Protection (CHP), Department of Health was notified of the above results for their follow-up."

"Out of the 125 samples taken by the AFCD earlier on from a pet shop, Little Boss in Causeway Bay under the I Love Rabbit group, seven samples drawn from seven hamsters tested positive. Separately, out of the 49 samples collected from another outlet in Causeway Bay under the same group, two samples from two hamsters also tested positive. As for the 511 samples taken from the warehouse in Tai Po, one sample from a hamster also tested positive. The CHP was also notified of the results for their follow-up," the spokesman continued.

He noted that 77 hamsters had been surrendered to the AFCD as at January 22 and COVID-19 tests had been conducted on 71 of them. The AFCD will continue to conduct COVID-19 testing on the hamsters surrendered.

Furthermore, 34 environmental swabs taken earlier on from the group's three outlets in Mong Kok, three outlets in Causeway Bay, an outlet in Tai Po, an outlet in Yuen Long, and a boarding establishment in Causeway Bay as well as the Tai Po warehouse were also tested positive by the CHP.

As at January 22, a total of 2 512 animals, including 2 229 hamsters, were humanely dispatched.

Import of all small mammals (including hamsters) has already been banned. The department is also reviewing the quarantine requirements for importing this type of animals into Hong Kong in future, including considering imposing a requirement for animals concerned to undergo testing for the COVID-19 virus prior to departure by the exporting country or region and to be tested again upon arrival in Hong Kong.

In view of the fact that a hamster surrendered by a member of the public tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the spokesman strongly advises members of the public again to surrender to the department as soon as possible their hamsters purchased in local pet shops on or after December 22, 2021 for humane dispatch.

For the arrangement of surrendering hamsters to the department, please call 2691 2269. Members of the public can also send their hamsters to the New Territories South Animal Management Centre of the AFCD.



Ends/Sunday, January 23, 2022
Issued at HKT 13:15

 

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Translation Google

Research into the origin of Dutch corona hamsters in Hong Kong: 'We are doing our best'

UPDATE The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) will trace the origin addresses of the corona-infected hamsters from the Netherlands that have to be euthanized in Hong Kong.

Sami Kappe 20-01-22, 11:09 Last update: 20-01-22, 14:38

Last weekend , the owner of a pet store in the Chinese city was found to be infected with the delta variant of the corona virus. While Hong Kong had not actually suffered from delta infections for months.

We try our best

After 11 animals tested positive for corona at the rodent shop in question, the suspicion arose that hamsters imported from the Netherlands were responsible. The two shipments of Dutch hamsters were transported from the Netherlands on December 22 and January 7, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) confirms to this site.

"But it is not yet clear whether the hamsters contracted the infection in the Netherlands, during transport or in Hong Kong," said the LNV. The Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority will investigate where the hamsters come from. According to Chinese media, the two hamster loads were from the same Dutch company.

“Whether in this case a hamster has infected a person or a person has a hamster, we will probably never know for sure,” the LNV adds. “That order is very difficult to trace. But we are doing our best to find out.”

RIVM

The ministry says it has read the reports about the hamsters and is in close contact with the authorities in Hong Kong. RIVM is also involved in this. It is known that some pets, such as cats, ferrets and also hamsters, can contract corona. "In any case, it seems very rare that animals also infect humans."

Since the news, there has been an import ban for small pets and the advice in Hong Kong is to hand in recently purchased hamsters for culling. At least 150 customers who recently brought a hamster into their home must be quarantined. According to the local government, it is plausible that the virus passed from animals to humans this time.

...

https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/onderz...msters-in-hongkong-we-doen-ons-best~aae95fb5/

 

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[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/hong-kong-study-shows-hamster-to-human-covid-spread-lancet-1.1715205


Hong Kong Study Shows Hamster-to-Human Covid Spread: Lancet
Zheping Huang, Bloomberg News
9h ago

(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong researchers have found evidence that pet hamsters can spread Covid-19 to people, and linked the animals to human infections in the city.

The study, published Saturday in The Lancet as a preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, provided the first documented evidence of hamster-to-human transmission of the Delta variant. Researchers from the University of Hong Kong and the city’s government found two independent cases of such transmission, after testing viral swabs and blood samples from animals collected from local pet shops.

The hamsters in question were infected around Nov. 21, before they were imported to Hong Kong, suggesting pet animal trade may be a pathway that facilitates Covid to spread across borders, according to the study...

 

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Translation Google

JANUARY 30, 2022 BY MARC GOZLAN

Hong Kong: transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from pet hamsters to humans, followed by human-to-human spread

It all starts in Hong Kong on January 11, 2022 . A 23-year-old employee working at the Little Boss pet store , which sells hamsters, rabbits and chinchillas, has a sore throat and cough. She is doubly vaccinated against Covid-19, the second dose having been administered to her on September 16, 2021. She tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on January 15, 2022. A second PCR test, carried out the next day, confirms the diagnosis. . Genomic sequencing reveals that it is the Delta variant (lineage AY127).

On January 8, three days before the employee showed the first symptoms of Covid-19, a mother and her daughter went to this pet store. The two women had then spoken with the employee about hamsters that the girl had bought four days earlier.

And now the mother develops respiratory symptoms four days later, on January 12. A PCR test was declared positive on January 17, confirmed by a second test carried out the next day. Then it is the turn of the husband, daughter and son to test positive for SARS-CoV-2. Each of the family members was vaccinated. The mother had received the second dose in September 2021, the father in August 2021, the son in June 2021 and the daughter in July 2021.

Extensive epidemiological investigation

The health authorities decide to carry out an epidemiological investigation. On January 17, 125 nasopharyngeal samples were taken from 69 hamsters, 42 rabbits and 14 guinea pigs. Only seven swabs taken from hamsters are positive for SARS-CoV-2. The warehouse that supplied the pet store with pets is inspected the next day, January 18. Technicians take 511 swabs from 137 hamsters, 204 rabbits, 116 chinchillas and 2 mice. Only one swab from a Syrian hamster (more commonly known as a golden hamster) is found positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR testing.
Hamsters having been found infected with SARS-CoV-2 both in the animal facility and in the warehouse, it was decided to conduct a more in-depth investigation in these two places. On January 18 and 19, nasopharyngeal and blood samples are taken from all the Syrian hamsters and dwarf hamsters present.

Syrian hamsters implicated

In the pet store, 7 out of 16 Syrian hamsters tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. In addition, 5 hamsters have anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Two of the three cages contain Syrian hamsters found positive. On the other hand, none of the 20 cages containing dwarf hamsters contained any infected animal. Indeed, no dwarf hamster is positive for SARS-CoV-2 or has anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

In the warehouse, samples are taken from 12 Syrian hamsters (residing in 7 cages) and 55 dwarf hamsters (living in 20 cages). Seven of the 12 Syrian hamsters were found positive by the PCR test or by the serological antibody detection test. Of the 7 cages containing Syrian hamsters, five contain infected animals. Again, none of the 55 dwarf hamsters were found positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR or serological testing.

Infected hamsters present in the pet store and in the warehouse do not show symptoms. Insofar as the warehouse has also supplied other pet stores, it is decided on January 19 to carry out investigations in five other places of sale of pets. Out of 49 samples taken from hamsters, two proved positive to the PCR test in one of these animal facilities.

Pets imported from the Netherlands

The hamsters in the warehouse were imported from the Netherlands. Two batches arrived by plane in Hong Kong. The first shipment, which arrived on December 22, 2021 via a Qatar Airways flight (with a stopover in Doha), contained only dwarf hamsters. The second, landed on January 7, 2022, arrived via a KLM flight (with a stopover in Bangkok). It was only made up of Syrian hamsters. Upon their arrival on January 7, hamsters from this second shipment were transferred to the first animal facility the same day.

A complete genomic sequencing of the virus is carried out from the samples taken from the animal store employee, two clients (the mother and her daughter), as well as from those of the infected hamsters from the animal store and the warehouse. All the viral genomes correspond to the Delta variant (lineage AY.127).

The sequences found in hamsters (in the warehouse and two pet stores) are very similar, but not identical. This suggests that animal-to-animal transmission has been taking place for some time.

Viral sequences from infected individuals differ by 1 to 13 nucleotides from those identified in hamsters. The viral sequence from the employee differs by 5 nucleotides from those found in the mother and her husband. In addition, some hamster viral sequences differ by only one nucleotide from that found in the employee. Finally, the viral genetic sequence from her mother and her husband is close to a sample from a hamster in the pet store.

Two distinct contaminations from hamster to human

Given on the one hand that the viruses of the hamsters in the pet shops are similar to those of the hamsters in the warehouse, and on the other hand that neither the saleswoman nor her customer (the mother) had visited the warehouse, it is highly probable that the source of infection of the Syrian hamsters in the warehouse is the source of this outbreak.

The most logical conclusion is therefore that the employee and her client contracted the virus directly from infected hamsters in the pet store. We remember that the customer and her daughter went to this store for the first time on January 4, before returning four days later. Since the average incubation period is five days and the mother developed symptoms on January 12, it is likely that she was infected by hamsters on January 8, during her second visit to the store. of animals.

According to researchers from the University of Hong Kong, "genetic analysis strongly suggests that the employee and the mother independently acquired the infection from hamsters in the pet store, rather than one infecting the other. ". These results therefore indicate that there have been at least two independent transmissions of the virus from hamsters to humans.

Human-to-human transmission of a hamster-adapted SARS-CoV-2

Also, since the husband did not visit the pet store, this suggests that SARS-CoV-2 circulating in hamsters was responsible for at least one human-to-human transmission, so the wife may have infected her husband.

Leo Poon's team, which reports these results on the Lancet Group's Research Square preprint platform , states that none of the viral sequences of the AY.127 lineage (Delta variant) previously detected in travelers returning to Hong Kong is similar to those detected in hamsters in the pet store and warehouse. Hence the hypothesis that a recent introduction of the AY.127 virus is indeed the cause of this epidemic outbreak. And the molecular virologists specify that they have detected four particular mutations, present in both humans and hamsters, three of which are located in the spike protein .

These results attest, for the first time, to efficient transmission of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 between Syrian pet hamsters, to the jump of the virus from hamster to human (what specialists call a zoonotic jump), then the spread of the virus between humans.
Cases of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from humans to different animal species, including pets (dogs, cats, ferrets), have already been described. Until now, the only example of transmission from man to animal and then from animal to man was represented by farmed mink. Farmed mink contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 then infected humans . However, human-to-human transmission of these mink-adapted SARS-CoV-2 variants had not been observed.

It was known that hamsters could be experimentally infected with SARS-CoV-2 and that the virus could spread among these rodents. This new study reveals that hamsters can therefore also naturally contract SARS-CoV-2 and then retransmit it to humans and that this virus can then be transmitted between human beings. Following this incident, Hong Kong decided to cull approximately 2,000 hamsters .

It is therefore possible that pet hamsters could become an animal reservoir for SARS-CoV-2, believe the authors of this study. And to point out that the international pet trade could facilitate the transfer of SARS-CoV-2 across borders. Consideration of this risk, as well as the implementation of isolation and control measures, is necessary to reduce the cases of reverse zoonosis (from human to animal) and zoonotic leaps (from animal to man, in return).
...

To know more :
Hui-Ling Y, Sit THC, Brackman CJ, et al. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (Variant Delta) from Pet Hamsters to Humans and Onward Human Propagation of the Adapted Strain: A Case Study . SSRN. [Preprint]. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4017393



https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/realite...-a-lhomme-suivie-dune-diffusion-interhumaine/