NC Pug First Known Dog To Test Positive For Coronavirus In US

NORTH CAROLINA — A pug named Winston from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, tested positive for novel coronavirus, making him the first dog in the U.S. believed to test positive for COVID-19.

Winston was tested after members of his family — a mother, father and son — participated in a Molecular and Epidemiological Study of Suspected Infection study at Duke following their positive test results for the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, WRAL reported.

As part of the study, the three family members gave blood samples and had nasal and mouth swabs. The family also had their two dogs and cat tested through an oral swab, which confirmed Winston tested positive for COVID-19 as well.

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The study's principal investigator, Dr. Chris Woods, confirmed that the COVID-19 virus was detected in Winston's sample, apparently making him the first documented case of a positive test for a dog in the country, WRAL said.

"Pugs are a little unusual in that they cough and sneeze in a very strange way," the family's mother and Duke pediatrician Heather McLean told the station. "So it almost seems like he was gagging, and there was one day when he didn’t want to eat his breakfast, and if you know pugs you know they love to eat, so that seemed very unusual."

According to the family, Winston's illness only lasted a few days, and he's now recovered.

"Hopefully we’ll learn more through the research study, and I think because there’s not a lot of studies and sampling pets, we just don’t know yet," McLean said.

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