HONGKONG – After 11 of the small rodents tested positive for the coronavirus in a pet shop in Hong Kong, authorities have urged pet businesses and owners to give over close to 2,000 hamsters for culling. Importation of small animals has also been halted throughout the region. 

Two groups of hamsters, which originated in the Netherlands and arrived in Hong Kong on December 22 and January 7, were judged to be “high-risk” for having the new coronavirus by city health specialists on Tuesday. According to health officials, the hamsters turned over by pet owners will be slaughtered to “break the transmission chain.”

They are infected with the covid-19 virus, according to scientific evidence. The director of Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Leung Siu-fai, said, “It is hard to quarantine and observe each of them, and their incubation period might be considerable.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the role of pets in coronavirus transmission has been examined and contested, although infection appears to be a one-way street for the most part, with animals receiving the virus from their owners and recovering rapidly.