“Companion animal → human infection has not yet been confirmed”
[앵커]
A companion animal infected with Corona 19 has been identified for the first time in Korea. It’s a’kitten’ who lived in a prayer center where a group infection occurred. Authorities believe it was infected by the owner. However, the government said that there have been no confirmed cases of human infection through companion animals.
This is Kang Na-hyun.
[기자]
[정세균/국무총리 : 최근 한 집단감염 사례의 역학조사 과정에서 반려동물이 코로나19에 감염된 사실을 방역당국이 확인했습니다.]
The first companion animal infected with Corona 19 in Korea was a cat that lived in Jinju International Prayer Center in Gyeongnam Province.
On the 11th, 29 visitors to this prayer center were confirmed, and more than 100 confirmed patients have been confirmed so far.
The mother and daughter who stayed here had three cats, including a mother cat and two kittens, and one of them was confirmed.
Since the mother and daughter, who are the owners, have been diagnosed with coronavirus, the quarantine authorities believe that the cat is likely to have been infected by them.
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a total of 450 cases of animals were infected with corona as of November last year.
Excluding the mink, which was infected on the farm, cats accounted for 72 cases and dogs at 52 cases.
Most have been infected by humans or other animals.
[손영래/중앙사고수습본부 전략기획반장 : (세계적으로) 인간에서 반려동물로 감염이 추정되는 사례들은 확인되고 있지만 반려동물에서 인간으로 감염된 사례는 아직까지 확인된 바 없습니다.]
The quarantine authorities said they would look into whether domestic pets were infected with additional infections.