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In late April, Winston, a North Carolina pug, tested positive for the coronovirus. Pug owners everywhere started worrying that their pugs may also contract the virus.
Winston’s mom, Heather McLean, a doctor at Duke contracted the virus along with her husband and tested positive in March. They found out later that their son had also contracted the virus.
Winston’s positive results came out in April.
“We were curious just like everyone else,” said Heather McLean, after finding out Winston tested positive. “Did he have the infection or did he just have the virus in his mouth?”
According to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory, Winston was likely never infected with the virus. The United States Department of Agriculture (that oversees the NVSL) conducted a series of tests over a period of several weeks after Duke researchers found the SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in an oral swab they took from Winston.
According to Lyndsay Cole, a spokesperson for the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, “While there was a weak detection from the original oral sample, it did not meet the case definition for a positive, and all other testing was negative.”
Cole said there was no virus isolated and there was no evidence of an immune response.
McLean said Winston may have tested positive for the virus by coming in contact with a family member or a surface that was infected with it.
The McLean’s other dog and their cat was tested on May 13. Both of those tests came back negative.
The NVSL has said that they have only confirmed the SARA-CoV-2 in four animals nationwide- two cats, a lion and a tiger.
Elizabeth Petzold, the program manager for Duke’s MESSI, said that researcher’s detected the conovirus in the McLean’s two dogs but after serology testing, neither of the animals developed an antibody response.
“It seems more likely that the virus was picked up by the animals via environmental contamination from the surfaces in the home,” said Petzold. “Going forward, we will begin collecting a small blood sample on all animals in the study to see if we can detect any animals with antibodies. We hope to learn more as the study progresses.”
