Can Your Pet Get or Spread Ebola?
Recently a nursing assistant in Spain contracted Ebola, and tragically her dog was confiscated and euthanized in spite of the limited risk her dog could have potentially posed. The picture above is of her late dog, Excalibur.
There is little information about the real risk for pets contracting ebola, and exactly what to do.
So what are the facts?
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), reports that “At this time, there have been no reports of dogs or cats becoming sick with Ebola or of being able to spread Ebola to people or other animals.”
Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. CDC, said that tests of dogs that ate contaminated meat in the 2001-02 Ebola outbreak, showed some dogs were exposed to the virus because antibodies were found in dog blood, but no one really knows if that could present a risk to people.
There are studies which show that dogs experience Ebola infections with no symptoms ( asymptomatic), but this likely means they are unable to transfer it.
There has not been one case of a person becoming infected by a pet.
Humans are becoming infected by direct contact with infected human body fluids, through bats or consumption of infected wild meat.
Impact on human health- Pets and Disasters
There is the real fear among the CDC that if people are concerned about having their dog killed, they won’t report themselves being ill if starting to show symptoms.
There is the theoretic concern that a dog could spread ebola if it were to come into contact with body fluids of an infected individual, then have those body fluids contact another individual, yet this can be remedied by isolating the dog for a short period of time- not euthanizing it.
Is your pet at risk of ebola?
No
Is your pet at risk of being euthanized if you or a loved one contract ebola?
Not in the U.S., but Yes in Spain.
Excalibur, the dog owned by the Spanish nurse assistant should not have been killed.
Bentley, the dog belonging to infected Texas nurse Nina Pham (both pictured above), is now safe with Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center- this is the correct decision.
Best Wishes,
Andrew Jones, DVM
As a Cavalier owner, I am so glad authorities are treating that Cavalier as a princess because her owner is a hero.
I couldn’t agree more. Bentley was cared for through quarantine rather than euthanized, and that was a compassionate, science-based approach. Every pet deserves to be treated with care while decisions are guided by evidence, not fear.
I find it amazing that there are places in the world that treat pets like they are yesterday’s news. To euthanize a pet because people are afraid and running from the unknown is barbaric. I wonder who or what is next?
I am glad to see some semblance of reason here in the USA but I am also very concerned it may not last as more cases become public.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s understandable that fear can drive difficult decisions, but it’s so important that we let science guide us. Whenever possible, monitoring and quarantine are far better options than euthanasia when the evidence doesn’t show a pet poses a significant risk. Compassion and common sense should always go paw in paw.
Fact of the matter, e-bola is a man made viral disease meant to cull humanity.. it is not designed to kill pets, humans only. And one has to wonder just how deadly this disease is, when a flight manager in regular clothing stands along side folks in hazmat suits escort a “patient” off an ambulance into a plane, yet they remove all the supposed infected material off the plane to be bagged by that same person dressed only in regular clothes to be contained in plastic bags and then taken back on board the plane before take off.
Who is being snoweed here?
Scroll down to the video of it all. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/10/15/viewers-quickly-noticed-something-that-makes-no-sense-in-raw-video-of-officials-loading-dallas-ebola-patient-onto-plane/
Thanks for sharing your perspective. the focus is always on the evidence. Ebola is a naturally occurring viral disease, and while there are still things we’ve learned over the years, the evidence supports that it primarily spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. As for pets, there has been no evidence that dogs or cats have been responsible for transmitting Ebola to people. That’s why decisions about our pets should be based on science and compassion—not fear.
Thank you, Elizabeth. Here are more “reasons” the Ebola Hoax is being used:
http://www.stage2omega.com/from-ghana-ebola-is-not-real-and-the-only-people-who-have-gotten-sick-are-those-who-got-shots-from-the-red-cross/
Another possibility is to restrict travel (curfews?) and to force-vaccinate people, while inserting the micro-chip they’ve been trying to introduce.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. There are certainly a lot of claims online during outbreaks, and it’s always worth checking them carefully. Based on the best available scientific evidence, Ebola is a naturally occurring viral disease, and there is no credible evidence that it was created as a hoax or used to implant microchips through vaccination. The advice is to rely on trusted public health and veterinary sources when evaluating these kinds of claims. And when it comes to our pets, the evidence at the time showed they were not a significant source of Ebola transmission to people.