[url]https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3163775/coronavirus-hong-kong-leader-worried-about-community-outbreak[/url] or https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3163775/coronavirus-hong-kong-leader-worried-about-community-outbreak - https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3163775/coronavirus-hong-kong-leader-worried-about-community-outbreak ; 

DJ Not yet much more in NL news....

[url]https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2011/06/articles/animals/pocket-pets/mrsa-transmission-between-hamster-and-human/[/url] or https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2011/06/articles/animals/pocket-pets/mrsa-transmission-between-hamster-and-human/ - https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2011/06/articles/animals/pocket-pets/mrsa-transmission-between-hamster-and-human/ A 2011 story on MRSA infection jumping from a hamster into a human...

[url]https://www.wur.nl/en/article/COVID-19-model-in-Syrian-hamsters.htm[/url] or https://www.wur.nl/en/article/COVID-19-model-in-Syrian-hamsters.htm ; The main read-out parameters for infection are loss of body weight (up to 20%), decreased activity in the running wheel, pathological changes in the lung and viral load in throat swabs, lung and nasal tissue (see infographic) and presence of neutralizing antibodies. Our animal model allows to show improvement in the measured read-out parameters when a successful intervention strategy is applied.

DJ Instead of killing the HK hamsters maybe trying to cure them-test medication-a better idea ? Most of the hamsters that will be killed may not even test positive...

We learnt at school that during the Black Death in Europe in the middle ages, people mistakenly thought that cats and dogs were spreading the flea that carried the plague and so they killed them all, and of course we now know with hindsight that the flea was on the rats who were the reserviour for the plague and killing the cats and dogs was making it worse because the rat population exploded without these animals to predate them. 

I agree with you that they shouldn't be killing the hamsters, but studying them. Killing them seems a knee jerk reaction like killing the cats and dogs.

Good info [url]https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2022/01/articles/animals/other-animals/the-great-escape-hamster-style/[/url] or https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2022/01/articles/animals/other-animals/the-great-escape-hamster-style/ - https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2022/01/articles/animals/other-animals/the-great-escape-hamster-style/ ; 

Killing hamsters that have been in households for weeks is particularly dumb. Even in the very unlikely scenario that the hamster was infected, hamsters only shed the virus for a short period of time (a few days), so there would be no risk now.

Identification of SARS-CoV-2 in hamsters in Hong Kong is an indication that there is more spread in people than is understood (or acknowledged). Culling hamsters is either a misinformed response or an attempt to deflect blame for burgeoning local human transmission (or both).

And [url]https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2022/01/articles/animals/other-animals/sars-cov-2-in-hamsters-and-a-massive-over-reaction/[/url] or https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2022/01/articles/animals/other-animals/sars-cov-2-in-hamsters-and-a-massive-over-reaction/ - https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2022/01/articles/animals/other-animals/sars-cov-2-in-hamsters-and-a-massive-over-reaction/ ; 

Today’s report of  https://hongkongfp.com/2022/01/18/covid-19-hong-kong-to-kill-2000-hamsters-other-small-animals-over-untraceable-delta-outbreak-at-pet-shop/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(6, 58, 177); text-decoration: underline; - Hong Kong’s plan to kill thousands of small mammals is an example of a huge miss.  Hong Kong did a great job regarding animal aspects of SARS-CoV-2 at the start of the pandemic by proactively quarantining and testing pets of people with COVID-19, and that helped us understand a lot about the disease in dogs and cats. Their proactive approach decreased over time, logically based on evolving information, so this extreme reaction now is a bit surprising.

What triggered this response?  Infection of a person – the origin of most SARS-CoV-2 infections in animals.

Here’s how the story goes.  A pet shop worker was identified with COVID-19 caused by the delta variant. Another person with COVID-19 reported visiting the store around the same time, and her daughter had handled a hamster. In response to that, officials tested hundreds of animals at the workplace.

That’s fine.  Actually, that’s great, since it can provide us with more information about human-to-pet transmission risks.

• 11 infected hamsters were identified
• Other species all tested negative

However, the subsequent response to the test results was the problem.

• ~2000 small mammals across 34 different pet stores and housing facilities will be euthanized.
• Anyone who purchased a hamster after December 22 will be required to surrender the pet to authorities for euthanasia. (A “hamster hotline” has even been set up for this.)

Does this response make sense?

No. It’s good to pay attention to and evaluate risks, but too often “kill the animal” is the “easy” response to something that just needs some thought and effort.

What could feasibly be done instead?

Small mammals are very easy to isolate safely. If there’s concern, they could quarantine the animal facilities or stores, do some more testing and handle things with basic infection control measures. The risk wouldn’t be zero (there’s rarely a scenario with zero risk when it comes to infectious diseases) but the risk would be exceptionally low, animals wouldn’t be unnecessarily killed, and we’d get more important information about this virus in animal populations.

DJ Hamsters are small and easy to blame/kill...

This is all distraction. What are they trying to distract our attention away from? 

How ridiculous to kill hamsters.

[url]https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4017393[/url] or https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4017393 - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4017393 ;

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (Variant Delta) from Pet Hamsters to Humans and Onward Human Propagation of the Adapted Strain: A Case Study

19 Pages Posted: 28 Jan 2022

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