Pug in North Carolina tests positive for coronavirus, may be first for dog in U.S.

The dog, Winston, is experiencing mild symptoms, his owner said. "There was one day when he didn’t want to eat his breakfast, and if you know pugs you know they love to eat."

A pug in North Carolina has tested positive for the coronavirus, which may be the the first such case for a dog in the U.S.

The dog, Winston, was part of a Duke University study in which a whole family in Chapel Hill, the McCleans, were tested for the virus.

The mother, father, son, and pug tested positive, while the daughter, another dog and a cat tested negative, according to NBC affiliate WRAL in Raleigh.

Dr. Chris Woods, the principal investigator for the Duke study, said Winston may be the first dog in the country to have a confirmed case of the virus.

Heather McLean, the mother and a professor of pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine, told WRAL that Winston has had mild symptoms.

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“Pugs are a little unusual in that they cough and sneeze in a very strange way,” she said. “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.”

Ben McLean, the son, said it made sense the dog got the virus because the pet “licks all of our dinner plates and sleeps in my mom’s bed.”

While Winston may be the first dog in the U.S. known to test positive for the virus, a dog in Hong Kong with coronavirus died in March, although the cause of death for the 17-year-old pet was unclear as the owner refused an autopsy.