A man walks a Shiba Inu dog in Tianjin, June 4, 2019. [Photo/IC]

Li Lanjuan, an epidemiologist and a member of the high-level expert team on the novel coronavirus convened by the National Health Commission, said that people should try to keep their pets away from virus sources because the disease is transmitted from mammal to mammal.

"If pets go out and have contact with an infected person, they have the chance to get infected. By then, pets need to be isolated. In addition to people, we should be careful with other mammals especially pets," she said in an interview with China Central Television on Wednesday.