South Korea launches Covid-19 test for cats and dogs

PA
Leah Sinclair9 February 2021

Pet cats and dogs in South Korea will be tested for Covid-19 if they show symptoms, the Seoul metropolitan government has said.

It comes a few weeks after a kitten tested positive for Covid-19, the first animal in the country to do so. 

Only pets which show symptoms like fever, cough, breathing difficulties or runny noses after being exposed to human carriers of the virus will be tested.

The test will be conducted near the animal's home by a team of health workers including a veterinarian, said Park Yoo-mi, a disease control official.

The pet must quarantine at home for 14 days if it tests positive for the virus, and Ms Yoo-mi advised people keep their dogs at least "2 meters away from people and other pets when walking them, and strictly follow antivirus measures, such as wearing masks and washing hands".

However, it is not necessary for the pet to be sent into an isolation facility as there is no evidence Covid-19 can be spread between humans and pets, the official said.

But if the pet's owners are hospitalised with Covid-19, or are too ill or too old to take care of it, the pet will be taken into quarantine at a facility.

In South Korea, many human patients with Covid-19 are put in quarantine facilities if they do not need hospital treatment.

Last month, a kitten that was found in the southeastern city of Jinju contracted Covid-19.

Health authorities suspect that a mother and daughter, who were staying at a religious facility with the kitten and both tested positive for Covid-19, had passed the virus on to the pet. 

Globally, several pets have tested positive for the virus - although it is still quite rare.

Last month, two gorillas in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park contracted Covid-19 from a human handler and are believed to be the first case of infections in apes.

In Denmark,  an outbreak of a mutated version of the coronavirus at mink farms last year prompted a culling of all of the country's mink.

The virus has also been found in other wild animals, including lions and tigers in the Bronx Zoo in New York and lions at Barcelona Zoo in Spain.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in