At present, only farmed mink and pet hamsters have been confirmed to be able to transmit the new crown virus to humans, and it is unclear whether pet cats and dogs can transmit it to humans.
Written by | Chen Xiaoyan
Source | "Medical Community" public account
On April 3, Shenzhen built the first "pet cabin" in China, which made residents with pets breathe a sigh of relief under the epidemic.
The Shenzhen Pet Hosting Center has been put into trial operation to solve the problems of pet hosting and risk management and control of the new crown pneumonia centralized isolation personnel. Playing, feeding, nursing, health monitoring, pets in the care center receive free care from volunteers.
The Shenzhen Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau issued a document saying that in fact, as early as the establishment of the pet hosting center, Shenzhen had built two "love pet stations" in order to solve the problem of pet placement in the homes of residents in Shangshatangyan Village, and the station could also provide new coronavirus emergency monitoring for pets. During this period, all pets tested negative.
Staff at the Shenzhen Pet Care Center are at work
Pets under the pandemic
Shenzhen is not alone.
At the end of March, in Changsha, which was shrouded in the epidemic, there was also a non-governmental public welfare animal protection organization that joined hands with a local pet foster care center to provide free accommodation and care services for the pets of the isolated citizens.
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the news of pets being culled has occurred from time to time.
On January 30, 2020, the pet cat of a homeowner in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, was buried alive by community workers. According to the Beijing News, the cat owner originally placed the pet cat on the balcony before the isolation observation, and arranged for friends to pick up the cat. However, when the community staff went to disinfect the door, they found the cat, "according to the first-level response mechanism for major emergencies and the strong demand of the community masses", and buried the cat alive.
On September 28, 2021, Ms. Liu, a confirmed patient in Nangang District, Harbin, received a notice from community workers that three pet cats in the family tested positive for nucleic acid and needed euthanasia. Ms. Liu also tried to fight for the three cats to survive, but in the end it was fruitless.
On November 12, 2021, a resident of Xinzhou District in Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province, reported through social media that during her quarantine, surveillance cameras at home captured a scene of a pet dog being "disposed of.". After the epidemic prevention personnel pried open the door and entered the home, they hit the dog's head with a stick, and after several screams from the puppy, the epidemic prevention personnel carried the plastic bag and left the room.
Briefing on the situation related to the "isolation of pet dogs" in jinfeng garden community of Xi'an Street, Xinzhou District
The most recent time, the act of waving a shovel at a pet dog appeared on the streets of Shanghai on April 6, 2022. The owner responded in the community owner group, because there are new crown confirmed patients in the family, the family was temporarily notified and needed to be picked up and isolated. Because there is no dog food at home, so I want to take the dog out and give it to the neighborhood committee to take care of, after being rejected by the neighborhood committee, in order to avoid the dog starving to death at home, the owner had to temporarily put the dog on the street. Corgi saw his master being pulled away by the car and chased after him. Less than a few meters out, he was beaten to death with a shovel by the staff.
Will pet infection spread to people?
On April 7, the discussion that "pets should not fall prey to the epidemic" rushed to the hot search. In addition to moral and legal considerations, people also want to know whether animals will really be infected with the new crown and infect humans.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, a variety of animals around the world have been found infected with the new crown virus, including beavers, deer, mink, orangutans, tigers, lions, cats and dogs.
In the United States, Belgium, Hong Kong and other places, cats have been found to be infected with the virus. According to the New York Post, north Carolina also has the first confirmed case of canine infection.
Animals can infect the new crown virus through humans, and some animals can also be transmitted between the same kind. In May 2020, the research team of Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor at the Institute of Medical Research at the University of Tokyo, published research in the Online Open Edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, saying that the new crown virus can also be transmitted between cats, but cats infected with the virus have not shown obvious symptoms.
Can animals infected with the virus be transmitted to humans?
The American academic journal Science published a paper from a Dutch research team in 2020 that concluded that the new coronavirus can spread in both directions between humans and mink through genomic analysis of mink and related human COVID-19 cases on 16 Dutch farms.
On March 11, 2022, a study published by scholars at the University of Hong Kong in the international medical journal The Lancet found that Syrian hamsters can naturally infect Delta virus, which in turn infects humans. This is the first time in the world that pet Syrian hamsters can transmit the new crown virus to humans.
But at present, only farmed mink and pet hamsters have been confirmed to be able to transmit the new crown virus to humans, and it is unclear whether pet cats and dogs can transmit it to humans.
In an interview with the Global Times, Yang Zhanqiu, a professor at the Institute of Virology of the Medical College of Wuhan University, once said that if it is a coronavirus carried by the cat itself, it will not be transmitted to a person, but if the new coronavirus found from the cat is a virus infected by a person, it is not ruled out that it will be infected to people.
How high is the risk of animal transmission to humans? Zhuang Shilihe, a medical V@ on Weibo, once posted: "The risk of cats spreading the new crown virus to humans is very low. This is related to the cat's ACE2 receptor. Compared with humans, there are 5 mutations in the binding site of cat ACE2 receptors, which reduces its affinity with the new coronavirus RBD by 3 to 4 times. Based on current epidemiological research, the spread of the new crown virus between cats and cats is limited, and it is extremely rare for cats to transmit the virus back to humans. ”
Zhou Yebin, a doctor of immunology, also wrote in The Intellectual: "Even if the pet is infected, as long as the contact with the positive animal is reduced, the risk of virus spread will be effectively controlled." For example, temporarily isolate pets and take protective measures such as wearing masks during necessary contact. ”
Regarding the issue of COVID-19 infection in pets, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has only recommended that positive infected people isolate their pets and pay attention to the animal's condition, and if necessary, contact a veterinarian for treatment.
Culling pets is illegal during the pandemic
Guan Xingwu, a lawyer at Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, recently wrote an article entitled "Some Legal Opinions on How to Protect the Master of The Shoveler Who Is Diagnosed Positive and Must Be Centralizedly Isolated", which he analyzed and believed that the so-called "harmless treatment" of the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law should not be applied to the handling of pets in this epidemic, nor the "Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Law" should be applied to "culling".
The legal basis for his conclusion is:
First of all, the new crown virus does not belong to the animal disease type specified in the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law. The current "Publication of the Directory of Animal Diseases of Class I, II and III" issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the State Council, as well as the recently revised "List of Diseases of Category I, II and III" and "Directory of Zoonotic Infectious Diseases", do not include the new crown virus.
Second, there is no animal epidemic in Shanghai, so the control measures for animal diseases in the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law are not applicable.
Third, even if the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law is assumed, live pets cannot be treated harmlessly. Chapter VI of the Act stipulates that harmless treatment applies only to sick and dead animals and diseased animal products, and absolutely does not include living animals. Therefore, whether it is in the homes of residents or taken away to a specific place to carry out abuse and killing, it is an act that is independent of and pre-empts harmless treatment, and it is an illegal act.
If there is an unfortunate incident of pets being culled, Guan Xingwu suggested that the owner can file an administrative lawsuit against the relevant department, and can also file a civil tort lawsuit or criminal report against the perpetrator.
Shenzhen's pet cabin provides a good solution for other provinces and cities in China. In the "pet cabin" in Shangsha, Shenzhen, many pets did not test positive. The Mao children who ended the quarantine period successfully returned to their owners and carried the honorary certificate of "Little Hero Against the Epidemic" issued by the custody center.
Source: Medical community
Editor-in-charge: Zheng Huaju
Proofreader: Zang Hengjia
Plate making: Xue Jiao