Please don't pass corona virus to your pet doggy!

Covid-19, the corona virus, is said to have originated, in China's Hubei province, because of the unfortunate Chinese tendency to eat anything and everything, including wild animals. (Both Agents 78 and 88, who should know, acknowledge that this is a fact of life in China.) The virus has always been present, researchers say, in bats found in caves in the Wuhan area, and was likely transmitted to humans who ate them. Or maybe it was pangolins, but no matter; the route or transmission was animal to human.

Then came human-to-human transmission, which spread the virus from Hubei to other parts of China, and onward to such hotspots as South Korea, Italy and of course Iran, where faithfulness to the teachings of the Prophet failed to confer immunity. (I'm pretty sure the Qu'ran forbids eating bats, but my Arabic isn't that good so who knows.) And let us not forget Washington, not DC but the state, where human-to-human transmission has led to dozens of cases and ten deaths, so far.

The question arises whether humans can give Covid-19 back to animals. The answer, coming today from... wait for it... Hong Kong, seems to be YES. The puppet government of the Chinese "Special Administrative Region" are warning people to avoid kissing their pets, after a dog repeatedly tested "weak positive" for coronavirus. The HKG Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said experts unanimously agreed the results suggested the dog had "a low-level of infection and it is likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission."

The dog in question is a Pomeranian, much cuter than the pug pictured here. Its owner was infected with Covid-19 but the dog itself was not showing symptoms, authorities said. They warned pet owners in the city, where 103 people have been infected with Covid-19 and thousands are in self-quarantine, not to panic. "Pet owners are reminded to adopt good hygiene practices (including hand washing before and after being around or handling animals, their food, or supplies, as well as avoiding kissing them) and to maintain a clean and hygienic household environment," they said. "People who are sick should restrict contacting animals. If there are any changes in the health condition of the pets, advice from a veterinarian should be sought as soon as possible.”

The Society for the Protection of Animals in Hong Kong said being infected was not the same as being infectious, and capable of spreading the virus. And dog lovers [Ed., what happened to that story from Zimbabwe we posted a few days ago?] criticized those who say that kissing their pets is unnatural as "speciesist".