Prof. Sit graduated from the University of Hong Kong and Melbourne University Faculty of Veterinary Science. He has been the Chief Veterinary Officer of Hong Kong SAR for 20 years. Prof. Sit has over 30 years of experience in animal health, veterinary public health, animal welfare and various animal management and veterinary administration roles. He represented the People’s Republic of China in various international standards-setting meetings including the General Session of the World Organization of Animal Health (WOAH) and the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Meat Hygiene. Prof. Sit has served as an expert consultant on animal health to different international organisations including WOAH and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. He provided expert consultancy for numerous international equestrian events e.g. Olympic Games and Asian Games to different PRC ministries including General Administration of Customs, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. He was awarded a Public Service Commendation by the Chief Executive of the HKSAR and received the Faculty Outstanding Research Output Award from LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong. Prof. Sit was Honorary Professor of Huazhong University. He is currently Honorary Professor in the Department of Health, Technology and Informatics of Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Honorary Principal Lecturer in the School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong.
Prof. Sit was one of the founders and proponents of the Equine Disease-Free Zone (EDFZ) in Conghua, the world’s first WOAH accredited EDFZ, which formed the foundation for the High Health, High Performance Horse (HHP) Concept adopted in the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code. He was also actively involved in research on emerging zoonotic diseases. His research related to SARs-CoV-2 in animals which resulted in publication in Nature and the Lancet, with citations by over 500 other papers to date. Prof. Sit is also interested in urban animal management, rabies control, animal welfare and transboundary animal diseases (eg. Avian Influenza and African swine fever), as well as international trade of animals and animal products. Prof. Sit presented numerous talks in international conferences on Avian Influenza, animal management, EDFZ and food safety control for Hong Kong. With over 30 years’ experience in veterinary and animal-related legislation and administration, Prof. Sit maintains an interest in research which supports the review of related legislation using scientific evidence-based approach for the promotion of animal and public health.
Thomas HC Sit, Brackman CJ., Ip SM, Tam KWS, Law PYT, To EMW, Yu VYT, Sims LD, Tsang DNC, Chu DKW, Perera RAPM, Poon LLM, Peiris M. Infection of dogs with SARS-CoV-2. Nature 586, 776–778 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2334-5 PMID: 32408337
Thomas HC Sit and Hui LY, Brackman CJ., Chuk SSY, Gu HG, Tam KWS, Law PYT, Leung GM, Peiris M, Poon LM, the HKU-SPH study team. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 delta variant from pet hamsters to humans, leading to onward human-to-human transmission. The Lancet Volume 399, Issue 10329, P1070-1078 (2022). https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140 6736(22)00326-9/fulltext PMID: 35279259
Christopher J Brackman, Ivan TF Wong, Allen SL Chan, Patrick CK Pun, HT Cheung, Anne Tse, Carlton PM Yuen, Pierra Law, WY Tam, Frankling WN Chow, Gilman KH Siu, Thomas HC Sit. A Rapid Progressing Melioidosis Outbreak in a City-Centre Zoo, Hong Kong, China. Emerg Infect Dis. 2025 Jul; EID-25-0823.R1.
Barrs VR, Peiris M, Tam KWS, Law PYT, Brackman CJ, To EMW, Yu VYT, Chu DKW, Perera RAPM, Thomas HC Sit. 2020. SARS-CoV-2 in quarantined domestic cats from COVID-19 households or close contacts, Hong Kong, China. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Dec;26(12):3071-3074. doi: 10.3201/eid2612.202786. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7706951/. PMID: 32938527; PMCID: PMC7706951
Daisy YM Ng, Wanying Sun, Thomas HC Sit, Christopher J Brackman, Anne CN Tse, Christine (v) HT Bui, Amy WY Tang, Andrew NC Wong, Andrew TL Tsang, Joe CT Koo, Samuel MS Cheng, Malik Peiris, Dmitry V Samborskiy, Alexander E Gorbalenya, Alex WH Chin and Leo LM Poon. Surveillance of Coronaviruses in Wild Aquatic Birds in Hong Kong: Expanded Genetic Diversity and Discovery of Novel Subgenus in the Delta coronavirus. LKS Faculty of Medicine School of Public Health of Hong Kong University, Public Health Forum 2025 paper. https://phf2025.sph.hku.hk/assets/files/35-NGYuetMeiDaisy.pdf.
Perera RAPM, Ko R, Tsang OTY, Hui DSC, Kwan MYM, Brackman CJ, To EMW, Yen HL, Leung K, Cheng SMS, Chan KH, Chan KCK, Li KC, Saif L, Barrs VR, Wu JT, Thomas HC Sit, Poon LLM, Peiris M. Evaluation of a SARS-CoV-2 Surrogate Virus Neutralization Test for Detection of Antibody in Human, Canine, Cat, and Hamster Sera. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 2021 Jan 21;59(2):e02504-20. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02504-20. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33139421/. PMID: 33139421
Robert G. Webster, Yi Guan, Malik Peiris, David Walker, Scott Krauss, Nan Nan Zhou, Elena A. Govorkova, Trevor M. Ellis, K. C. Dyrting, Thomas HC Sit, Daniel R. Perez, Kennedy F. Shortridge. Characterization of H5N1 Influenza Viruses That Continue To Circulate in Geese in Southeastern China. Journal of Virology, Vol. 76, No. 1 (2002). https://jvi.asm.org/content/76/1/118. PMID: 11739677
Y Guan , M Peiris, K F Kong, K C Dyrting, T M Ellis, Thomas HC Sit, L J Zhang, K F Shortridge. H5N1 influenza viruses isolated from geese in Southeastern China: evidence for genetic re- assortment and interspecies transmission to ducks. Year 2002 - Virology. 2002 Jan 5;292
Thomas HC Sit (Chief Editor). Manual of Fish Diseases: Diagnosis Prevention and Management (China Agriculture press).