A pug has become the first dog to be diagnosed with coronavirus in the US, an animal rights organisation has reported.
The dog appears to have contracted the disease from its owners – three of whom tested positive for Covid-19, the American Humane Society said on Tuesday.
Of the family, who live in North Carolina with their pets, the mother, father and son have all been diagnosed with the disease.
Their daughter has tested negative, along with a second dog and a cat, a spokeswoman for the animal welfare group said.
It comes less than a week after two cats living separately in New York state became the first pets in the US to test positive for the virus.
Last month, Hong Kong authorities said a coronavirus patient’s pet dog that tested positive for the virus was “likely” the first case of human-to-animal transmission.
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has stressed that only cats from infected or self-isolating households should be kept inside – and only if they are happy to stay indoors.
BVA president Daniella Dos Santos said earlier this month: “There have been a tiny number of cases of Covid-19 in animals and in all cases, it is likely that the transmission was human to animal. There is no evidence that pets can pass Covid-19 to their owners.
“From the small number of cases, it appears that dogs do not show symptoms, but cats can show clinical signs of the disease.”
“We are not advising that all cats are kept indoors. Only cats from infected households or where their owners are self-isolating, and only if the cat is happy to be kept indoors."
