Dog Tests Positive for CCP Virus for First Time in US

Winston wasn't feeling well for a few days but he is back to 100 percent. Courtesy of Heather McLean

A dog in the United States has tested positive for the CCP virus for the first time.

Several dogs in other countries have tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that originated in China last year. A pug, Winston, appears to be the first in America to contract the virus, which causes a disease called COVID-19.

Duke University researchers are conducting a study on COVID-19. During the course of the study, the dog was tested and results came back positive, Dr. Chris Woods, the principal investigator, told WRAL.

Woods didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

The mother, father, and son of the family that owns Winston all tested positive for COVID-19.

Heather McLean, a pediatrician at Duke, told WRAL that the pug started showing mild symptoms, including loss of appetite.

“Pugs are a little unusual in that they cough and sneeze in a very strange way. 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,” she said.

Illustration by Peter Hamlin

Ben McLean, the son, said it makes sense because the dog licks the family’s dinner plates and sleeps in his mother’s bed.

The family’s other pets, another dog, and a cat tested negative for the CCP virus.

Two pet cats tested positive for the virus in New York, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Department of Agriculture said last week. They were the first pets to test positive in the country.

A cat tested positive for the CCP virus in Belgium last month while several dogs have had confirmed cases, primarily in Hong Kong. Lions and tigers in New York have also tested positive.

No cases of pet to human transmission of the virus have been confirmed but authorities say people can spread the illness to their pets.

The CDC said in updated guidelines that “there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the virus that causes COVID-19,” but cautioned pet owners to treat pets like humans in terms of keeping them socially distant from people or animals from outside the household.

If a person in the house gets sick, they should be isolated from pets in addition to people.