key: cord-1008411-fcj7irox
authors: Huang, Qiao; Zhan, Xiang; Zeng, Xian-Tao
title: COVID-19 pandemic: stop panic abandonment of household pets
date: 2020-04-09
journal: J Travel Med
DOI: 10.1093/jtm/taaa046
sha: 898203edb625248406fc805e60a05fabb72eb216
doc_id: 1008411
cord_uid: fcj7irox

Panic abandonment of household pets during the COVID-19 pandemic is not justified.

U N C O R R E C T E D M A N U

A dog owner was tested positive for COVID-19 on 25 February 2020 in Hong Kong. Her pet dog, a Pomerian, was tested "weak positive" on 28 February 2020, suggesting a potential human to animal infection. 3 The dog had no symptoms, but was quarantined at a government facility and finally tested negative. A second dog and also four cats were tested positive in Animal welfare could be seriously threatened by social media panic and misinformation, and household pets could turn into another victim of this already devastating outbreak. Animal experts and the media should pro-actively take a stand to stop panic abandonment or killing of household pets during the COVID-19 outbreak.

As a precautionary measure, US Centers for Disease Control recommend that people with COVID-19 have someone else walk and care for their companion animals while they are sick.

Frequent handwashing before and after contact with animals, and avoiding intimate contact, is crucial during this outbreak.

Currently, there is no evidence that household pets can transmit the disease to humans, Therefore, "there is no justification in taking measures against companion animals which may compromise their welfare," the World Organisation for Animal Health stated. 3 Panic abandonment of household pets is neither justified nor morally supported. 

Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents

Isolation, quarantine, social distancing and community containment: pivotal role for old-style public health measures in the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak

First case human-to-dog transmission in Hong Kong

Fears From SARS Starts A Pet Panic in Hong Kong-08

Can we contain the COVID-19 outbreak with the same measures as for SARS?

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Province (2020FCA008).

Study Design: XT Zeng; Data collection: Q Huang, X Zhan; Analysis and interpretation: Q Huang; Draft the manuscript: Q Huang, X Zhan; Review the manuscript: XT Zeng; Funds for: XT Zeng; all authors approved to submit the manuscript.