Washington: The first dog that tested positive for coronavirus in the United States died, National Geographic magazine reported, after batting symptoms that would possibly be familiar to many others with the virus.
Buddy, the seven-year-old German shepherd, became ill in April, around the same time as its owner, Robert Mahoney, was recovering from COVID-19, according to the magazine this week.
Buddy gave the impression of having a blocked nose and shortness of breath, and his condition only worsened over the next few weeks and months.
Mahoney and his wife Allison, who live in New York, nevertheless slaughtered the dog on July 11 after Buddy started vomiting blood clots, urinating blood and unable to walk.
But the circle of relatives told National Geographic that they had struggled to verify their suspicions that Buddy was inflamed with SARS-CoV-2.
“Without a doubt, I think (Buddy) is positive,” Mahoney said, but many vets in his area were closed because of the pandemic.
Some were skeptical that pets will contract the virus. And most of the materials were kept for human use anyway.
One clinic was finally able to verify that Buddy was positive and discovered that the family’s 10-month-old puppy, which never had poor health, had anti-virus antibodies.
Buddy’s veterinarians later discovered that the dog probably also had lymphoma, raising doubts as to whether animals, such as humans, with pre-existing conditions may also be more vulnerable to a serious illness caused by the new coronavirus.
Neither public fitness officials nor veterinarians were able to provide the circle of family members with much information, they told National Geographic, because there is not enough knowledge about the virus in animals, beyond the fact that the infection gives the impression of being rare.
“We had no wisdom and we did not revel in COVID’s clinical base in dogs,” Robert Cohen magazine, the vet who evaluated Buddy, told magazine.
The official word of the World Health Organization is that pets probably don’t pass the virus on to their owners.
But Shelley Rankin, a veterinarian at the University of Pennsylvania, said an additional exam is needed.
“If we tell the world that the prevalence (of animal cases) is low, then we want to take a look at a higher number of animals,” he said.
Twelve dogs and 10 cats were tested for coronavirus in the United States, according to National Geographic.
The Mahoneys say Buddy’s story is heard.
“It was) a little pumpkin. I wish we had it longer,” Allison Mahoney said.
Dear reader,
This segment is about life in the UAE and data you can’t live without.
Sign up to read and complete gulfnews.com