A pug in North Carolina has recently been the first dog to test positive for coronavirus in the United States.
Winston was tested for Covid-19 by his owners after he fell ill with the deadly virus.
The dog test was conducted by a Duke University team that was researching how coronavirus can spread to household pets, reports WRAL-TV from North Carolina.
Dr. Chris Woods, the Duke study’s head, confirmed he thought it was the first known instance of a pet dog who tested positive for COVID-19.
Helen McLean the owner, hailing from Chapel Hill said Winston had become unwell, coughing and sneezing.
She further added that “Pugs are a bit peculiar in that they sneeze and cough in a really odd manner and it sounded more like he was gagging.”
Worryingly, the food-loving dog didn’t eat his breakfast for one day.
She said, “And if you know pugs, you know they enjoy food. Yes, it seemed quite strange.”
Helen McLean, her partner Samuel who serves in emergency departments, and her son Ben have tested positive as well, but there are no significant symptoms in them. However, their daughter tested negative along with two other pets.
Ben, who is Helen’s son, said he wasn’t shocked at all that Winston tested positive.
He told that Winston used to licks all our dinner plates and slept in my mom’s room, as we were the ones who brought our faces in his face.” However, Winston recovered after a few days of getting ill.
On one hand a few suspected cases of dogs catching the coronavirus have been reported in China.
And on the other hand six lions and three tigers at the Bronx Zoo have tested positive for the virus.
Yet the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) maintained that there is “no proof that animals play a major role in virus transmission.”
The public health authority told that the risk of infection between animals and humans is minimal.
The CDC also urged pet owners to keep their animals apart from the other animals as if they are somehow human beings who still needed to stick to social distance.
They also warned owners to stay away from crowded parks, where the other animals may be present.