A dog has a 'low-level' coronavirus infection
Source: The Washington Post
A pet dog in Hong Kong has a low-level infection of the coronavirus that causes covid-19 in people, in what may be the first known human-to-animal transmission of the novel coronavirus that has sickened more than 90,000 people worldwide.
The case has raised the specter that dogs might be swept into the epidemic, which, even now, public health officials say does not appear to infect or be spread by pets. But experts say much remains unknown about the dogs infection, and they emphasized the lone case is not yet cause for alarm or reassessments about interactions with pets.
The dog is owned by a person who was hospitalized with covid-19, and it has been quarantined since Feb. 26, according to Hong Kongs Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. The department said last week that the dogs weak positive test results, from nasal and oral swabs, might have been the result of environmental contamination, not infection. But positive tests since then suggest the dog does have a low-level of infection, the department said Wednesday. The animal has shown no symptoms, and a second dog under quarantine in the same facility has tested negative for the virus, the department said.
At this point, we can say theres evidence dogs can get infected, but we have no idea what that means for dogs or people
is it one of a million or is it one of 10? We have no idea, said J. Scott Weese, a professor at the University of Guelphs Ontario Veterinary College who studies zoonotic disease. But, he added, a weak positive would suggest theres not a lot of virus there.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/03/05/coronavirus-dogs-cats/
JudyM
(29,236 posts)Hides for up to two weeks. People recover and then it get taken down by it again. And now our dogs can get it too.
tirebiter
(2,536 posts)And we cant test humans.
Cmon. With Trump we get plague. Another bumper sticker
wiley
(2,921 posts)Hold on people. Asian markets have just flatlined. Friday, March 6 is going to be a really, really rough day.
yaesu
(8,020 posts)that got sick after he came down with the symptoms & later died while he was still recovering which took him a few weeks & some very terrible symptoms while self guaranteed at home.
a la izquierda
(11,791 posts)This is so weird.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)It's not COVID-19, for which no vaccine has been developed yet. There was a report last week of racing greyhounds in Australia getting the coronavirus, but its the canine version of it.
a la izquierda
(11,791 posts)It's just weird that the 19 strain is jumping to dogs. I was in the middle of writing quizzes for my students and got distracted and didn't finish my thoughts. D'oh!
I should make sure I didn't accidentally write them a quiz about coronavirus.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)But I did read something written by a veterinarian this week warning about having too much physical contact with pets until we know for sure that we can't infect them.
a la izquierda
(11,791 posts)My dog is indeterminate years old and has a liver tumor. I've had three dogs die since 2016 and would prefer to keep Neil Young (that's my dog's name) around a bit longer.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)Politicub
(12,165 posts)One of my biggest fears has been how the virus could mutate.
The fact that one dog can get infected means its possible that more are carrying the virus.
canetoad
(17,153 posts)In 'Planet of the Apes'.
I will not stop kissing my dogs noses.
cate94
(2,810 posts)Did it not originally mutate from an animal to a human?
Determined years ago. At the time we had much more serious things to worry about. We thought.
sdfernando
(4,935 posts)...a virus that ends up attacking dogs.....
...then all the dogs die...no dogs left on earth....
...then humans start taking chimpanzees as pets....
...then they start to train them to do menial tasks....
...I think I've seen this somewhere before.