Pet hamsters likely transferred the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 to humans in Hong Kong, according to a genetic analysis that detected the virus in several animals in a pet shop there. The researchers suspect the virus may have jumped from humans to hamsters and then back to humans, causing 50 people, some of whom had visited the pet shop, to become infected so far.
Although the research, published on January 28 as a Lancet preprint, has yet to be peer-reviewed, it is the first scientific evidence that hamsters can transmit SARS-CoV-2 to humans, reports Nature. So far, they’re the only animals besides mink to be known to do so—though, according to Nature, hamsters are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and are commonly used in the lab to study COVID-19.
The findings suggest that the pet trade may be a route for COVID-19 transmission, co-author Leo Poon, a virologist at the ...
