In Hong Kong, a batch of hamsters from the Netherlands were found to be infected with the new coronavirus variant strain Delta, and the clerks and customers of Little Boss, a pet shop in Causeway Bay, which sold the batch of hamsters, were diagnosed with the disease. The government issued a "rat killing order". Humanely destroyed the whole batch of hamsters and other pets in the same store and warehouse, causing controversy.
Yuan Guoyong, Chair Professor of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong, wrote an article today to answer 14 questions one by one.
He pointed out in particular that the virus found in the pet store has a special mutation called "D427G". He does not know the transmissibility or virulence of this mutant. Faced with these many unknown factors, if this mutation is not stopped as soon as possible The virus is spreading in the community, and it could spread in Hong Kong, the mainland and overseas, leading to another disaster.
Summary report: Yuan Guoyong re-deconstructed why he agreed with the hamster killing order: the local Delta virus has a special mutation
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On January 18, 2022, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation announced emergency action to humanely treat approximately 2,000 hamsters in order to stop the spread of the Delta Variant, which could be transmitted to humans through hamsters.
Hamsters are the favorite pets of many people. I can understand the sadness of animal lovers, but in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, I and other government experts, including Professor Leung Cheuk-wai and Professor Xu Shuchang, agree with the difficult decision of the relevant departments.
I answer some questions about hamsters below.
1/ What is the government's appeal to the people?
The government called on people who bought hamsters anywhere in Hong Kong on or after December 22 to be tested, and "strongly recommends" the public to hand over hamsters purchased on or after December 22 for humane disposal by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
The authorities announced that two recent batches of imported hamsters from the pet store Little Boss were at risk of virus contamination, namely hamsters imported from the Netherlands on December 22 and January 7 last year.
2/ What was the situation in the Causeway Bay pet store that led to the government's action and appeal?
As of January 19, 3 people linked to the pet store were infected.
The female clerk of the pet store was diagnosed with a variant of the new coronavirus Delta. The source of the infection is unknown. She has never been to the warehouse in Tai Po.
Another female customer who had visited the store was infected with the virus. Her 67-year-old husband was admitted to the hospital on the 17th and initially tested positive, and was later diagnosed.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department tested 125 samples of Little Boss, of which 11 were positive for hamsters, samples from the transit warehouse were also positive, and environmental samples from the Tai Po warehouse were positive.
On the 20th, there were two preliminary positive cases of the new coronavirus. One woman was a customer of Little Boss pet store, and the other was a customer of I Love Rabbit pet store in Mong Kok, which sold hamsters. At the same time, I Love Rabbit in Yuen Long had a hamster cage. The sample is positive.
Dr Zhang Zhujun, director of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Centre for Health Protection, said this showed an increased chance of animal-to-human transmission.
▼1.18 AFCD personnel destroy animals at Little Boss in Causeway Bay▼
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3/ What evidence is there that the virus was transmitted from hamsters to humans?
Or is there any evidence that the virus was passed from hamsters to the environment and then to humans?
We can infer from the current chain of evidence that the virus has a high chance of jumping from hamsters to humans.
But obtaining direct evidence is more difficult.
4/ If there is no direct evidence, why do you say "there are good reasons to believe that the virus carried by hamsters is likely to spread to humans"?
Epidemiological investigations showed that animal and environmental samples from the Tai Po warehouse were positive, as were animal and environmental samples from pet stores, especially hamster samples.
1. A similar non-native European Delta variant was detected in the Tai Po warehouse, which was the virus detected in animal cages, suggesting that the virus may have been imported from the Netherlands through hamsters, and the AFCD is sampling for further investigation.
2. The virus was detected in environmental samples and more than 10% of the hamsters in the Causeway Bay pet store.
3. A Little Boss pet store staff member and a pet store customer were infected who never visited the warehouse.
4. The two positive cases initially confirmed on the 20th were related to hamsters.
Therefore, we have reason to suspect that the warehouse with more than 1,000 hamsters is the source of the virus, and the virus can expand through cross-infection and spread to pet stores and many other retail establishments, further expand everywhere, and infect humans.
5/ Why are infected hamsters a huge threat to public health?
Hamsters are easily infected by the new coronavirus, and the transmission and mutation of the virus between animals occurs. After they are infected, they will release the virus, which may be transmitted to humans.
The situation of virus transmission between humans and animals is very dangerous, because in the process of cross-infection of hamsters, there can be genetic mutations that cause changes in virulence antigens or transmission rates.
6/ Can we test hamsters for infection and then humanely handle infected hamsters?
Hamsters may not get sick immediately after being infected, and they may not have obvious symptoms, but they will release a large amount of virus, and the amount of virus will generally drop to a low level after 7 days or later.
Nucleic acid testing and vaccines are mainly anti-epidemic methods for humans, and there is little experience in using them as anti-epidemic methods on hamsters.
Therefore, we cannot fail to sacrifice imported hamsters in Tai Po warehouses and retail stores to ensure safety, so that it is possible to prevent the spread of this Delta variant virus that may be transmitted by hamsters.
▼On January 19, AFCD went to Little Boss Mong Kok branch to humanely destroy small animals▼
7/ You mentioned the Delta mutant virus, what is it?
The virus found in the pet store was found to be the closest to the virus that broke out in the Czech Republic in December last year after genetic sequencing, but it was not exactly the same.
The virus isolated by the pet store has a special mutation named "D427G", but this mutation was not detected in the Czech virus, which shows that the virus found in the pet store may be a new mutation.
We are not yet sure whether the mutant virus was created in hamsters and then transmitted to humans, or whether it was created in humans.
We do not know the transmissibility or virulence of this mutant.
Faced with these multiple unknowns, if the community spread of the mutated virus is not stopped soon, it could spread across Hong Kong, the mainland and overseas, leading to another disaster.
Therefore, the safest way is to sacrifice the hamster to stop the outbreak of the Delta virus strain, which may come from the hamster.
We have good reason to believe that animal-to-human transmission is extremely likely, and pet stores have seen second-generation transmission.
It now appears that this Delta virus may have caused another chain of transmission.
8/ What is the other chain of transmission you mentioned?
The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health announced on the 19th that 16 new cases were confirmed and more than a dozen were initially positive.
A 17-year-old boy from St. Joseph's English Secondary School on New Clear Water Bay Road in Rainbow was initially diagnosed with the L452R virus strain, which may be related to Delta.
However, he has never been to Little Boss, a pet store suspected of animal-to-human transmission, nor has he kept hamsters. He is investigating the source of the infection.
9/ I have already received two shots, will I still be infected?
Covid19 vaccines, including BioNTech and Sinovac, are effective against the Delta variant, but less effective against Omicron, although they can still reduce severe illness.
▼On January 19, AFCD went to pet stores in Hong Kong to kill hamsters▼
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10/ You have repeatedly reminded the public to step up vaccination in the past few days. What does this have to do with the hamster incident?
A whopping 33% of the population in Hong Kong and more than 50% of the elderly are not vaccinated.
If the Delta variant spreads to the community, the lives of these unvaccinated elderly people will be greatly threatened, and more than 1,000 people may be infected and killed, an outcome we do not want to see.
11/ Some hamster owners recommend sending their hamsters for quarantine, is this possible?
For animals that have been infected, they cannot simply be kept in ordinary cages for "isolation".
The cage needs to have an independent air circulation system, and the released air needs to be treated in a harmless manner. These requirements can only be fulfilled by the P3 laboratory.
According to strict regulations, all animals that have ever entered the P3 laboratory must be humanely handled after the experiment is completed.
The AFCD also does not have sufficient animal quarantine facilities, manpower and testing capacity.
12/ Some people say that usually infected hamsters will get sick within three to six days, is this true?
If true, can I leave the hamster at home for observation for three to six days.
I don't have to give my hamsters to the government if they still look healthy?
Hamsters may not have obvious symptoms after being infected, but they will produce a lot of virus.
Determining whether a hamster is infected requires professional testing personnel and equipment, which cannot be handled by ordinary people.
Taking care of infected hamsters has very high environmental requirements. Citizens do not have pet living environments that meet independent air circulation in their homes, and there is no way to isolate the virus from people, which will increase the risk of infection.
We therefore call on the public to hand over the hamsters purchased on or after December 22 to the AFCD as soon as possible, and family members should undergo nucleic acid testing as soon as possible.
13/ Why is the government taking urgent action?
We need urgent decisions and actions to prevent possible spread. According to the available information, the virus has already begun to spread in Little Boss, warehouses and pet stores in Tai Po, and many other pet stores may be at risk of transmission. We are racing against time .
Time does not allow us to wait for further genomic information to act.
Therefore, we cannot but sacrifice imported hamsters in Tai Po warehouses and retail stores to ensure the safety of the community and prevent the possibility of the spread of the delta virus transmitted by hamsters.
Let's synthesize what we know now: 1. The virus was detected in the Tai Po warehouse where hamsters were once stored.
2. In the first round of screening, more than 10% of the Little Boss pet store hamsters had the virus.
3. The staff is first diagnosed, and then the customer is diagnosed.
4. The person diagnosed in the hamster group has not been to the warehouse.
Then the biggest possibility is that people in the Netherlands or Hong Kong passed the virus to the hamsters in the warehouse, and then the infected hamsters were cross-infected in the pet store to expand the virus and spread it to humans.
▼1.19 Citizens hand in hamsters to the New Territories South Animal Management Center under the "Rat Killing Order"▼
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14/ The hamster pet owner has been greatly traumatized, what do you have to say to them?
Hamsters are also lives, and I can fully understand that the citizens are saddened by the passing of more than 2,000 little lives.
But we are all facing a whole new situation that requires humility to learn how to cope.
AFCD veterinarians are specialist specialists who can make decisions on humane treatment.
They have dealt with H5N1 and H7N9 bird flu events in 1997, 2002, 2004 and 2013.
I hope everyone understands that this is the first time we have dealt with the issue of pets infected with the Delta variant virus, and citizens are required to hand over their pets to the government from their homes.
I also hope that the government can show more empathy in the process of handling this matter, and we are all learning.
In the past week, scientists from the University of Hong Kong, including experts in microbiology, virology and infectious diseases (Dr. Chen Fuhe), public health (Prof. Leung Cheuk-wai and Prof. Poon Lie-man), and CUHK Respiratory System (Prof. Xu Shuchang), from their respective professional perspectives Make science-based opinions to the government and the public.
Dr. Xiao Jieheng from the Polytechnic University performed the relevant genome sequencing and shared the results with us.
While science and medicine cannot solve the problem of love, we need the help of other professionals, such as psychologists, counselors and bereavement counsellors, to help the public cope with emotional crises.
Scientists are ignorant of the pathogenicity and infectivity of the Delta mutant virus that just emerged in Hong Kong. They are redoubling their efforts to find out. We also need the understanding and support of society.
When children suffer from the loss of their hamsters, their families should not only accompany and explain more, but also understand that this new coronavirus pandemic is because we humans have not cherished nature and respected the survival and habitat of wild animals, so that the virus entered human beings. Even pets end up sacrificing so many hamsters' lives.
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