Can dogs spread Ebola?

Animal Rights activists stand with their dogs outside a block of apartments where a Spanish nurse who tested positive for the Ebola virus lives on October 7, 2014, in Alcorcon, near Madrid, Spain.

Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images



Questions and answers about the situation:

Q: Can dogs get Ebola?

A: At least one major study suggests they can, without showing symptoms. Researchers tested dogs during the 2001-02 Ebola outbreak in Gabon after seeing some of them eating infected dead animals. Of the 337 dogs from various towns and villages, 9 to 25 percent showed antibodies to Ebola, a sign they were infected or exposed to the virus.

Q: What's the risk to people?

A: No one really knows. Lab experiments on other animals suggest their urine, saliva or stool might contain the virus. That means that in theory, people might catch it through an infected dog licking or biting them, or from grooming.

Q: Why is this dog suspect?

A: The nursing assistant and her husband have been in isolation since she tested positive for Ebola this week. She helped care for a missionary priest who died of Ebola. The Madrid regional government got a court order to euthanize their dog, saying "available scientific information" can't rule out "a risk of contagion."

Q: Does everyone agree that's best?

A: No. The dog's owners don't want it killed, and an animal rights group wants it quarantined instead, although it's not clear how effective that would be since infected dogs don't show symptoms, and it's not known how long the virus can last in them.

Dr. Peter Cowen, a veterinarian at North Carolina State University who has advised global health experts on animal infection disease risks, thinks officials are overreacting. "I think it's very unfortunate they are thinking of euthanizing that dog. They should really study it instead," he said.

Q: What about other dogs?


In Dallas, health officials are monitoring 48 people who may have had contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, but "we are not monitoring any animals at this time," said Texas Health Commissioner David Lakey.