Hong Kong Orders Hamsters Killed After COVID-19 Infections

Hong Kong Orders Hamsters Killed After COVID-19 Infections

Hong Kong ordered a mass killing¹ of hamsters on Tuesday after discovering some of the animals were infected with COVID-19.

The order came after a worker at a pet store that was selling hamsters also tested positive.

Hong Kong's government planned to kill about 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, in an effort to prevent virus spread. Officials said the killings² would be carried out in a humane³ way. The city also banned the sale of hamsters and the import of small animals.

The pet shop employee tested positive for the Delta⁴ variant⁵ of COVID-19 on Monday, The Associated Press reported. Several hamsters that were being sold at the store also tested positive. The animals had been imported from the Netherlands.

The U.S. Centers for Disease⁶ Control and Prevention has stated that animals do not appear to play a major part in spreading COVID-19. But Hong Kong officials say they are not ruling out the possibility that COVID-19 might have spread from animals.

"We cannot exclude⁷ the possibility that the shopkeeper was in fact actually infected from the hamsters," said Edwin Tsui. He is a controller at Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection.

Hong Kong has also tested rabbits and chinchillas, but so far only hamsters have tested positive.

Officials advised citizens who own hamsters to keep them at home and to wash their hands after touching⁸ the animals. The officials also warned animal owners not to kiss their pets.

People who bought hamsters from the store after January 7 will be contacted by the government. They will be asked to hand over their hamsters and may also have to go into quarantine themselves.

Hong Kong's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it was "shocked and concerned" by the decision to kill the animals. It urged the government not to take "any drastic⁹ action" before examining other possible choices.

After three months without any local virus spread, Hong Kong has started seeing new COVID-19 cases in humans over the past few weeks. As a result, thousands of people have been sent to government-run quarantine centers. Most of the new infections have been the fast-spreading Omicron version¹⁰ of the virus. The cases linked to the pet shop worker, however, were linked to the Delta variant.

Words in This Story

pet – n. an animal that someone keeps in their home

positive – adj. in a medical test, positive means the person being tested has a disease or condition

variant – n. something that takes a slightly different form from the usual one

exclude – v. to not permit someone or something to take part in an activity or enter a place

quarantine – n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading

drastic – adj. sudden or extreme

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

3 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

4 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

5 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

6 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

7 exclude   

v.阻止...进入；把...排除在外

参考例句：

• The university had no right to exclude the student from the examination.学校无权阻止这位学生参加考试。
• He tries hard to exclude those opposed to him from the committee.他力图把反对他的人排斥在委员会之外。

8 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

9 drastic   

adj.严厉的，极端的，激烈的，猛烈的

参考例句：

• His view brings a drastic argument.他的观点引起激烈的争论。
• The situation brings home to us the need for drastic preventive actions.这种情况使我们深切地感到采取极端的行动是必要的。

10 version   

n.版本；型号；叙述，说法

参考例句：

• His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
• What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样？