Amid the increasing number of cases and deaths due to the coronavirus affecting all parts of the world, another heartbreaking news for animal lovers has been recently circulating the web. The first case of coronavirus in canine has been recorded in the United States, making it the third dog to be infected in the world.
The canine from North Carolina, a pug named Winston, was tested positive after his family learned they have contracted the virus too. According to the authorities, among the four members of the McClean family, three were inflicted leaving the daughter as the only person in the family who remained negative.
The family learned they were tested positive of the virus after participating in a study conducted by Duke University, which aims to dig deeper about COVID-19 and be able to find vaccines and treatments for the virus. To monitor the family's health, the members underwent nasal swab testing every week. Also, blood samples were taken from them.
As a part of the study, their family dog and other animals in their household were tested too. The goal is for the researchers to know and understand how the virus spread within a family.
Only a few pets have been tested for the virus as of writing. But among all those pets, only Winston has been tested positive.
"His (Winston's) amount of virus that we detected was very low", says Chris Woods, the principal investigator of the study. Woods further explains, with the very low amount of virus found in the pug, the canine won't surely be a vessel of transmission of the virus, which could infect other dogs, pets, or other people, as reported by CNN.
Though the dog didn't suffer from severe symptoms, Winston's owners say the canine has also experienced some minor ones like cough and loss of appetite. Authorities say the pup will still undergo several tests to check whether or not he still has other unrelated diseases, which could also probably make him sick.
Meanwhile, the sweet ball of fur is already doing fine. He is currently staying with his family, filled with lots of love and care as always, as shared by NBC News.
Though there are already three cases of coronavirus in dogs and two cases in cats, experts are still stressing there is still no evidence that pets can become a carrier of the virus. So there's no reason for you to be scared with your favorite pet.
