Pet Pug 1st COVID-19 Positive Case In Dogs In United States
PET PUG COVID-19 POSITIVE – A pet dog of a family from Chapel Hill had tested positive for coronavirus.
According to health authorities, this had been the first case of COVID-19 being found in pet dogs. Previously, it was only cats in the US that tested positive for the virus. Likewise, even big cats such as Tigers in the Bronx Zoo also tested positive.
Based on a report from WRAL, the family was involved in a study at Duke. Moreover, the father, mother, and their son all tested positive for COVID-19.
During the span of the study, the family also had their pets tested for the virus. Afterward, they found out that their pet pug, Winston, was positive for the virus.
The mother, Heather McLean, a pediatrician at Duke, stated that Winston was showing mild symptoms of the virus. She added, ” Pugs are a little unusual in that they cough and sneeze in a very strange way”.
More so, she emphasized that Winston seemed like he was gagging and even had a day where he wouldn’t eat. This was alarming for the family since they know that pugs love to eat.
As per the report, McLean’s son, Ben said that Winston would lick all of their dinner plates and sleeps on his mother’s bed. This was Ben’s suspicion of how their dog got the virus.
Aside from Winston, the Family had 3 other pets. They had two dogs, a cat, and a lizard and had them all tested for COVID-19. However, only Winston was positive for coronavirus.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more through the research study, and I think because there’s not a lot of studies and sampling pets, we just don’t know yet. My advice is just not to get too worried about it.
Heather McLean
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