The 17-year-old who had tested positive whose owner recovered from the coronavirus lost his life in Hong Kong
The coronavirus has already claimed its first animal victim, since the first dog that had tested positive for the coronavirus died in Hong Kong, after it had apparently recovered from the disease, according to what was reported by a local media.
The dog, a 17-year-old Pomeranian, lost his life after being returned to his owner after a government quarantine and a negative test for the virus, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
The animal was being kept by a 60-year-old woman who was able to recover from the virus and refused to allow the city’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation (AFCD) to perform an autopsy on the pet.
The department learned from the dog’s owner that he had passed away on March 16. The owner said she was not willing to (allow) an autopsy to examine the cause of death
The pom had returned home on Saturday after being isolated in a government facility since Wednesday, February 26. For this, the authorities used nasal, oral and blood samples to repeatedly test the puppy for viruses while it was in quarantine, according to the Morning Post.
Blood tests came back negative on March 12, which meant that no coronavirus-related antibodies were found in the dog’s system. However, local authorities said those results did not necessarily mean that the dog was not infected.
In some asymptomatic or mild human infections with other types of coronavirus, it is known that antibodies do not always develop
Furthermore, the dog was considered the first known case of human-to-animal transmission of the virus, and Hong Kong officials believed that its owner transmitted "low levels of the virus."
Some health officials in New York and Hong Kong have said they do not believe that domestic dogs and cats are transmitters of the virus.