Three domestic cats that tested positive for coronavirus were culled in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin. As soon as the news spread on social media, the anger of animal lovers broke out, considering the decision taken by local authorities excessive.
The owner of the cats was diagnosed with Covid-19 on 21 September and the local disease control agency killed his three cats because they tested positive even after his recovery and despite the objections of the man who asked for them. “grace”. “There is probably no professional medical treatment for animals infected with the novel coronavirus,” a community worker said in an interview with Beijing News, explaining the reasons that led to the killing of the cats claiming that the animals would continue to leave. viral traces in the room. “It doesn’t seem very realistic that cats can contaminate their environment so badly that they pose a risk for their owner to re-infect them with Covid,” said Rachael Tarlinton, professor of avirology at the British University of Nottingham. , adding that surfaces, such as cat fur, are not such an important vehicle for viral transmission.
Scientists said there is still no evidence that pets play an important role in spreading the virus to people. «I absolutely disagree with this approach! To put it bluntly, it’s a crude, simplistic and lazy form of management, just to avoid accountability, ”posted a social media user on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.
China has contained most of the regional coronavirus outbreaks within weeks by applying mass testing and community lockdowns, even when only a few cases are reported. According to Beijing News, Feng Zijian, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said domestic cats should be killed if they repeatedly return positive results.
Vanessa Barrs, a professor at the City University of Hong Kong, specializing in animal health and disease, said instead that the risk of transmission from infected animals to people is low: “So far, throughout the pandemic, there have been no confirmed reports of cat-to-human infection, unlike the situation with farmed mink in Europe, where transmission from Covid-19 infected mink to humans has occurred. The situation is very different for pet dogs and cats and other solutions can be implemented for animals ».
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