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A pug in North Carolina has tested positive for COVID-19, which is believed to be the first confirmed case for a dog in the United States. There have also been confirmed cases of pet cats, as well as tigers and lions in the Bronx Zoo contracting the virus.
The dog was part of a Duke University study that tested an entire family for the virus. The pug, Winston, joined the family’s mother, father, and son as having confirmed cases. A daughter, as well as a second dog, and a cat all tested negative for COVID-19.
“Pugs are a little unusual in that they cough and sneeze in a very strange way,” Heather McLean, the mother and a professor of pediatrics at Duke said to WRAL in Raleigh. “So it almost seems like he was gagging, and there was one day when he didn’t want to eat his breakfast, and if you know pugs, you know they love to eat, so that seemed very unusual.”
The CDC said that due to the low number of COVID-19 cases in household pets, routine testing of animals has not been recommended, though state and federal health officials are making new determinations about whether an animal should be tested.
CDC guidelines on pets say “there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the virus that causes COVID-19,” but recommends you treat them “as you would other human family members.”
“Do not let pets interact with people or animals outside the household. If a person inside the household becomes sick, isolate that person from everyone else, including pets.”
- Earlier story - COVID-19: Tiger At Bronx Zoo Tests Positive, Becoming First US Case In An Animal
- Related story - COVID-19: Seven More Big Cats Test Positive At Bronx Zoo
"To our knowledge, this is the first instance in which the virus has been detected in a dog. Little additional information is known at this time as we work to learn more about the exposure," MESSI principal investigator Dr. Chris Woods said in a statement.
Winston has since fully recovered and “has been acting like himself," the family reported.
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