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The North Carolina Pug Winston is the first dog in the US to be diagnosed with COVID-19. This means that dogs can also become infected with the coronavirus. Can they carry it?
According to CNN, three members of the McClean family - doctor Sam McClean, his wife Heather, a pediatrician and lecturer at Duke University, and their son Ben - contracted the coronavirus in March. Their daughter Sydney was the only one who had no symptoms of Covid-19.
After the family recovered, she took part in a study by Dr. Chris Woods, a virologist and one of Heather's colleagues at Duke University; the study aims to find potential treatments and vaccines, reports CNN and USA Today. Every week from the beginning of April, a team of researchers came to the McClean home to take blood tests and nasal swabs.
Their dog Winston also tested positive for coronavirus. The McCleans have another dog and a cat, but their tests were negative.
For animal testing, researchers did not use commercial tests that are in high demand around the world in the Covid-19 pandemic, reports CNN. They haven't tested many animals, and Winston's sample is the only one that came back positive. According to Duke University, Winston is the first dog in the US to test positive for the virus.
Woods also stressed that "the amount of the virus that was detected (in Winston's) was very low, suggesting that it would not be a likely source of virus transmission to other animals or to people in this household."
Experts say there is no evidence that pets can transmit the coronavirus.
CNN added that federal officials last week said tests for the coronavirus in two New York cats had turned positive. In addition, eight lions and tigers at a zoo in the New York City Bronx are infected, but all the "cats" are doing well, according to a press release.
In addition, the presence of the coronavirus in Hong Kong has been confirmed in two quarantined dogs, said representatives of the Hong Kong authorities cited by CNN.
Lots of veterinary experts, including representatives from American VeterinaryThe Medical Association has previously pointed out that there is no evidence that the coronavirus can spread from infected animals to humans.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US's top infectious disease specialist, noted in a news conference last week that "from an epidemiological point of view, there is no evidence that pets can transmit (coronavirus) in the household."
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