Imported Hamsters from Netherlands Spark Coronavirus Outbreak in Hong Kong

According to latest research, foreign-made household hamsters brought the delta version of the viral coronavirus throughout Hong Kong, initiating a regional pandemic.

The study presents the very initial indication of hamster-to-human transfer of SARS-CoV-2, the infection that produces COVID-19 though it is not yet assessed; was published in the journal The Lancet's Preprints database on 28th of January.

Imported Hamsters Cause Coronavirus Outbreak in Hong Kong

(Photo : Photo by Louise Delmotte/Getty Images)
HONG KONG, CHINA - JANUARY 20: A hamster sits in a cage after being adopted by volunteers stopping an owner from surrendering it to the government outside the New Territories South Animal Management Centre on January 20, 2022 in Hong Kong, China.

Although hamsters may be contaminated with the coronavirus in different laboratories and are frequently employed in experiments, there was no indication of the rodents transferring the virus to living beings before to the Hong Kong incident.

In the report made by Nature, the infection has already impacted roughly 50 individuals and has caused policy makers to slaughter hundreds of household hamsters in the metropolis.

The researchers obtained coronavirus specimens from the lady, her husband, and the veterinary store employee and studied the virus's genetics out of each and experts additionally examined the genetic material of infectious specimens taken from 12 of the 15 affected rodents.

During the course of the study, a lady who had just toured a veterinary store came back positive for COVID-19, and her husband and kids quickly followed suit. The lady was not in touch with other people identified to be sick, but she had been serving at an animal store named Little Boss, which offers a variety of creatures such as rodents, bunnies, gerbils, and caimans.

In an interview with the virologist at the College of Hong Kong and lead researcher Leo Poon, he explained that in any scenario, the paper implies that rodents may and do transmit the viral disease to humans, however to be reasonable to the rodents, individuals are still far more probable to get the infection from one another.

The infection subsequently propagated to other rodents in Hong Kong, collecting some couple of alterations throughout the process until afflicting the veterinary store proprietor and the store client on different instances, according to the experts.

Nevertheless, the researchers discovered that eight of the 16 Syrian rodents examined at the veterinary store had SARS-CoV-2 illness, as evidenced by a positive PCR test and/or the detection of antigens in their bloodstream.

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Modified Version of Coronavirus Brought By Imported Hamsters

The antiviral genomes discovered in Hong Kong humans and rodents had four distinct alterations as opposed to the delta mutated version specimens from Europe, the investigators told Live Science.

Moreover, Hong Kong medical experts commenced inspecting living creatures at the animal business for signs of coronavirus contamination, fearing that this may be additional incidence of animal-to-human transference. The first group of rodents halted in Doha, Qatar, and were transferred to a separate trajectory; the following group docked in Bangkok, Thailand, but stayed on the very same aircraft, according to the research researchers.

However, Marion Koopmans, a virologist at Erasmus College Medical Institution, informed Nature that she, too, believes the hamsters were contaminated even before to import duty.

Relying on such modest biological alterations, the researchers estimated that several of the rodents contracted the coronavirus prior getting transported to Hong Kong from the Netherlands in November 2021.

In a statement issued by the Washington Post, the current investigation started when a pet store employee in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay neighborhood came back positive for COVID-19 in January.

The 23-year-old lady was contaminated with the delta version, which was unusual since the modified version had not even been seen in the metropolitan area since October 2021.

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