Dog Tests Positive For COVID-19

North Carolina family noticed their pug, Winston, was also displaying symptoms after they had tested positive for the coronavirus.

by: Kirsten Gutierrez

Posted: Apr 28, 2020 / 08:22 AM CDT / Updated: Apr 28, 2020 / 08:22 AM CDT

(WRAL/NBC News) A North Carolina family’s dog has tested positive for coronavirus.

The Chapel Hill family was involved in a study at Duke in which the mother, father and son tested positive for COVID-19. During this study, the family had their pets tested and found out their pug, Winston, had coronavirus.

Dr. Chris Woods, the principal investigator of the Duke study, said, “The virus that causes COVID-19 was detected,” and he believes it’s the first known positive case in a dog in the United States.

The family’s mother, Heather McLean, is a pediatrician at Duke. She said their dog was experiencing mild symptoms.

“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,” Dr. McClean said.

“The dog licks all of our dinner plates and sleeps in my mom’s bed, and we’re the ones who put our faces into his face. So, it makes sense that he got (coronavirus),” said McLean’s son, Ben.