Amid the rising cases of coronavirus across the world, a dog owned by a covid-19 positive person in Hong Kong has been found infected with the coronavirus. The report was found on social media, which claimed to be the first case of a dog being diagnosed with coronavirus. The post was shared on Twitter by one of the leading media outlets in China with the caption, "World's 1st pet dog infected with #COVID19 has been confirmed in #HongKong, a Pomeranian tested 'weak positive' three times, a local health official said Wed, raising concerns of human-to-animal transmission."
The authorities have quarantined the pet dog after its nasal and oral samples tested "weak positive" three times for the virus, a media report said. Meanwhile, the report also said the Hong Kong medical authorities have advised citizens to not kiss their pet dogs.
Earlier, there were reports that the virus of the deadly covid-19 was being found in animals in China, following which, a number of pet owners in the most affected areas of China had thrown their pets from their balconies.
However, later it was confirmed that there were no cases of the virus being found in animals.
With the fresh case involving a pet dog being infected with coronavirus in Hong Kong, authorities are seeing it as a case of human to animal transfer of the virus.
Meanwhile, the death toll due to coronavirus in China has crossed 3,000 with 31 new fatalities and the total number of confirmed cases jumped to over 80,400, while Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “undiminished vigilance”, saying the situation in virus-hit Wuhan still remains severe despite positive progress.
China’s National Health Commission said on Thursday that it received reports of 139 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 31 deaths on Wednesday on the Chinese mainland.
All the deaths were in the epicentre of the virus, Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan, which continued to be ground zero of the COVID-19.
Also on Wednesday, 143 new suspected cases were reported while the number of severe cases decreased by 464 to 5,952, the NHC said, adding that 522 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.
The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 80,409 by the end of Wednesday.
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