North Carolina Family’s Pet Pug Tests Positive For COVID-19

Looks like another type of family pet may be susceptible to the novel coronavirus. Winston the pug is now the first dog in the United States to test positive for COVID-19. The pug belongs to a North Carolina family who was involved in a study at Duke University. The McLean family says they all tested positive, including Winston, on April 1st. Helen and Samuel McLean, their son Ben and their dog Winston all tested positive. The family's other dog and cat along with their daughter all tested negative. The family lizard wasn't tested.

When the family was asked how the dog may have contracted the virus, they said there were several scenarios that could have led to the positive test. Mother Heather McLean is a professor of pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine and told local news station WRAL Winston was suffering from mild COVID-19 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."

The family's son Ben said he believes there a couple of different scenarios that could have led to Winston testing positive. Winston eats off the family's plates and sleeps in the parent's bed at night which could have led to him contracting the coronavirus. Thankfully, Winston was able to recover from his illness in a few days.