Covid positive dog in Bitonto: can it spread the infection?



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Italy records the first official case of dog tested positive for Covid-19. The protagonist is a poodle who lives with a family of three in Bitonto, in the Bari area. Both the spouses and the youngest child also tested positive for the swab. The veterinary service was in charge of certifying the dog’s infection, although the animal’s swab still showed low positivity. The Minister of Health of the Puglia Region, Pierluigi lopalco, explained the situation, denying that there are any dangers to humans.

Covid-positive dog, safe for humans

Poodle infection is not a health problem. This was certified by virologist Pierluigi Lopalco, health councilor for the Puglia region, who recalled how, from what has emerged so far, dogs are not hosts capable of spreading the infection. So the poodle would be infected by the family who takes care of it.

The dog, a one and a half year old female, is fine: hers viral load is low and it does not present a risk of infection to humans. Around the world, however, there have already been cases of pets testing positive for the virus: none of them have infected people.

Nicola Decaro, Professor of Infectious Diseases of Animals at the University of Bari, added that finding positivity in the poodle was a stroke of luck, given that it is the first canine specimen found with theongoing infection and the presence of viral RNA.

Animals and Covid, cats are the ones most at risk

The first case of a Covid positive dog in the world has emerged in China last March, subjected to quarantine together with her lover. According to scholars, animals would be very sensitive to virus, but they would not transmit the disease to people. And above all it does not seem to be fatal for them.

Between dogs and cats, however, are the second most likely to contract Covid. Even for them, however, the same rule applies as the former: they would not represent an instrument of contagion for human beings. For those who are positive and have a pet at home, experts recommend entrust them to healthy people that they can take care of them, preventing them from getting sick.



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