Dog in Hong Kong has contracted the COVID-19 virus

dog in Hong Kong has contracted the virus. 

COVID-19 virus that’s killed at least 2,859 humans across the world over the last two months, World Health Organization officials said Friday.

For the first time, the foreign media has reported today about a dog in Hong Kong has contracted the virus. 

The 60-year-old woman who raised the dog in the house as a pet had also been infected previously. It is the first time that the virus has been transmitted from a human being to an animal.

Hong Kong scientists aren’t sure if the dog is actually infected or if it picked up the virus from a contaminated surface, she said.

“We’re working with them to understand the results, to understand what further testing they are doing and to understand how they are going to care for these animals,” Kerkhove said during a press conference at WHO’s headquarters in Geneva.

The dog reportedly belongs to a 60-year-old woman who developed symptoms on Feb. 12 and later tested positive, according to The Wall Street Journal. Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said the dog doesn’t have any symptoms. Swabs of its nasal and oral cavities tested “weak positive,” it said in a statement Friday. The dog is under quarantine at a facility at a port in Hong Kong and will be returned to the owner once it tests negative for the virus, according to the agency.

The number of people infected with the Covid- 19, which originated in China's Hubei province, has risen to 95,481 and has caused 3285 deaths according to foreign media reports. The number of people infected with the virus in China has risen to 80,409 patients while 2902 deaths have been reported.

South Korea has reported 35 deaths, and 5766 cases of virus-infected patients. Amid rising tensions, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun has also stopped exporting protective face masks.

The death toll from coronavirus has risen to 107 in Italy and the number of infected people has risen to 3089.

To prevent the spread of the disease, it has been advised to keep a gap of one meter between two persons since it has been revealed that close contact will directly affect the spread of the disease.

As a precaution, 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 COVID-19.