DA eyes measures after Hong Kong dog catches COVID

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture will put in place necessary measures to ensure that animals will not be affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after a pet dog in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said he would ask the Bureau of Animal Industry to put up advisories, taking the cue from what had been reported in Hong Kong last week.

“If it is really being transferred to animals then we will have to put the measures necessary so that those infected with COVID will no longer be in contact with their pets,” Dar told reporters on the sidelines of the Isda on the Go launch yesterday.

“If it’s true that pets like dogs are transferring the disease, we have to tighten,” he said.

While nothing is concrete yet, Dar said part of the advisory would have to include what to do with regard to handling pets so as not to transfer the virus.

“We will talk about it in the Cabinet, if this is emerging as a concern, maybe we will also advise accordingly on the specific measures,” Dar said.

Last week, the World Health Organization confirmed that a dog in Hong Kong tested “weakly positive” for COVID, which means that low levels of the virus were found.

Reports said the dog belonged to a 60-year-old woman who developed symptoms last Feb. 12 and later tested positive for the virus.

Experts have yet to be certain whether the dog is actually infected or if it picked up the virus from a contaminated surface.

As part of precautionary measures, the Hong Kong government said it would quarantine all cats, dogs and other domesticated animals in a holding facility if their owners test positive and were quarantined for the virus.