Dr Hilary Jones has said the risk of humans passing Covid-19 on to their pets is 'very unlikely'.
The GP was speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain on Monday (January 24) in the wake of news about a culling of hamsters in Hong Kong.
He said: "Risk of transmission to your pet from a human is very unlikely, is very rare.
"Yes, large cats, tigers have had respiratory illnesses as a result of Covid, we've heard about ferrets, mink.
"Certainly there were millions of farmed mink in Denmark that were culled because they were transmitting one to another. But that's a rare event and it hasn't been reproduced.
"So I think the risk is very small."
You can see the video at the top of this article.
The cull of hamsters in Hong Kong follows several of the animals testing positive for coronavirus at a pet store where an infected employee was working.
Even though authorities acknowledged there is “no evidence” that pets can transmit the coronavirus to humans, as a precautionary measure, customers who had purchased hamsters from the affected store after January 7 will be traced and subject to mandatory quarantine. They must also hand over their hamsters to authorities to be put down.
The city will also stop the sale of hamsters and the import of small mammals, according to officials from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
Authorities said all pet stores selling hamsters in Hong Kong must cease operations and around 2,000 small mammals, including hamsters and chinchillas, will be culled in a humane manner.
