A pet dog of a confirmed patient of the novel coronavirus pneumonia has tested “weak-positive” for the virus, triggering public concerns whether pets could carry or transmit the virus. 

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region authorities on Friday said that the pet dog, which was under quarantine, had nasal and oral samples that were confirmed as “weak-positive” for the virus, although the dog has not shown any symptoms. 

Hong Kong authorities also said that it did not have any evidence that pets could become infected or transmit the virus, but it will collect more samples to check whether the dog was infected or its samples were just environmental contamination.

After the news went viral, many netizens worried that pets could transmit the disease to humans, and some said they would definitely let pets wear masks while walking them outside.  

Chen Rui, a zoologist from the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said on his Weibo on Friday that he has received many messages from netizens asking whether pet dogs could be infected by the virus. 

He said that so far no research proved that pet dogs could infect or carry the novel coronavirus.

The virus could be detected at various spots around the house of a confirmed COVID-19 patient, including the mouth, nose and anus of their pets, Chen said. 

He suggested people living in virus-stricken regions not walk their dogs.  

Global Times