Two domestic cats have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said on Friday.
The case involved five short-hair cats in Sheung Shui: “When the owner was found to be a close contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case, the cats were sent to the AFCD for quarantine today. The department collected samples from all these cats for testing,” an AFCD spokesperson said, adding that two cats tested positive for Covid-19 though did not show any symptoms.
The spokesperson urged Hongkongers to wash their hands when handling animals, their food or supplies “as well as avoiding kissing them.”
There is little evidence of animal-to-human transmission, though local authorities culled over 2,000 hamsters and small animals last month amid fears of an untraceable Delta variant outbreak linked to a pet shop.
The virus has previously been found in dogs. In all nine dogs and ten casts have tested positive for Covid-19.
Hong Kong has seen 14,715 cases of Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic, and 213 deaths.
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