Buddy, the German shepherd, the first dog in the United States to test positive for COVID-19, died earlier this month.
Buddy initially showed symptoms of COVID-19 in April. He struggled to breathe, became lethargic, and lost weight, according to an exclusive National Geographic report.
Although he was tested for COVID-19 on May 15, his family did not receive confirmation that he had the disease until they were notified by the New York City Department of Health on June 2.
Buddy started vomiting clotted blood a month later, and doctors discovered that the beloved canine also had lymphoma. Buddy’s family decided that the human course of action would be to put him to sleep. (Doctors are unclear on the nature of the respective roles that COVID-19 and lymphoma play in the death of the dog.)
“My pet was like my son,” Buddy’s owner Allison Mahoney told National Geographic. “When he passed away in front of me, he had blood on his legs. I cleaned him up before going to the vet and stayed with him in the back seat. I said, ‘I’ll make his voice heard, because all of our furry friends. Your voice will be heard , friend “.
As of this writing, the US Department of Agriculture has diagnosed more than two dozen animals with the new coronavirus. There is no evidence so far that pets can easily contract the new coronavirus. At the same time, there is still concern that humans may infect animals. Therefore, people with a COVID-19 diagnosis are recommended to avoid physical contact with their pets and other animals.
“We are still learning about SARS-CoV-2 in animals, but there is currently no evidence that animals play an important role in the spread of the virus,” the USDA said in a press release discussing the first diagnosis of COVID- 19 in an American Pet Dog. “Based on the limited information available, the risk of animals spreading the virus to people is considered to be low. There is no justification for taking action against companion animals that may compromise their welfare.”
Studies suggest that both dogs and cats are susceptible to COVID-19, although cats seem to be more so. At the same time, health experts urge pet owners to avoid abandoning their animal companions simply because they fear getting sick.
“The danger we face is that people are nervous when they hear that pets may be carrying viruses and decide to get rid of them,” Jürgen Richt, a veterinary virologist at Kansas State University, told Nature in May in Manhattan.
The first novel coronavirus infection known to an animal in the United States was Nadia, a four-year-old Malay tiger residing at the Bronx Zoo. Nadia was tested for the new coronavirus after she started showing troubling symptoms, including dry cough and loss of appetite.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported cases of COVID-19 in lions and mink. It has also found that common marmosets, cynomolgus macaques, ferrets, grivets, golden Syrian hamsters, and rhesus macaques can become infected.
The agency also notes that the new coronavirus appears to have originated from bats.
“Some coronaviruses that infect animals can be transmitted to humans and then spread between people, but this is rare,” he writes. “This is what happened to the virus that caused the current COVID-19 outbreak, and the virus likely originated from bats. The first reported infections were related to a live animal market, but the virus is now spreading from person to person. to person”.
He adds: “The virus that causes COVID-19 is spread mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets by coughing, sneezing, and talking. Recent studies show that people who are infected but have no symptoms probably also play a role in the spread COVID -19 “.
