Chapel Hill Family’s Pet Pug, First Dog Positive For COVID-19 In US

A Chapel Hill family's pet pug which was part of study was reported to have tested positive of the coronavirus.

The dog, named Winston, as the WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina, the first to report the U.S. development, was a part of a household where a couple and their son who were also participants in the study and had tested positive.

The family and their pets were part of a study conducted at the Duke University.

Molecular and Epidemiological Study of Suspected Infection (MESSI) lead investigator Dr. Chris Woods confirmed in a statement to the CBS News, saying, "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."

Meanwhile, the family’s other pets, another dog and a cat tested negative while the family’s pet lizard was not tested.

The mother, Heather McLean, a pediatrician at Duke was quoted saying that Winston had displayed mild symptoms while her son, Ben McLean told the station that the pug "licks all of our dinner plates and sleeps in my mom's bed, and we're the ones who put our faces into his face; so, it makes sense that he got" the virus, CBS News reported.

The station continued to state that the family’s daughter, Sydney McLean, whose husband works in the emergency rooms of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals, was the only one who did not test positive.

Early this year, Hong Kong authorities reported a case of a coronavirus patient’s dog which was tested positive and was likely to be the first case of a human-to-animal transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

According to a spokesperson for Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), the dog “was found to have a low-level infection of the coronavirus after being tested repeatedly for the disease.”

The dog was tested for its nasal and rectal samples and the results showed a weak positive for the coronavirus with the dog not having any relevant symptoms.

Meanwhile, there had been several reported cases of cats contracting the virus but research showed that dogs are more susceptible to it.

According to the department, no current evidence suggested that pets could in any way infect humans with coronavirus, however, they still encourage pet owners, especially those who have been confirmed positive for the virus to keep their dogs, cats and other mammal pets at a safe distance and immediately consult with a veterinarian should the animals display unusual conditions or symptoms.