Dog of Ebola-Infected Nurse Tests Negative for Deadly Virus
Dallas Animal Services has been caring for the dog.
— -- The dog of an Ebola-infected nurse has tested negative for the deadly virus.
Bentley has been quarantined after its owner, Nina Pham, was diagnosed with Ebola earlier this month.
According to a statement from Dallas City Hall, the dog was tested Monday and will be tested again while he remains in quarantine for 21 days, similar to how humans are quarantined for the duration of a possible Ebola incubation.
Pham was diagnosed on October 12.
The dog has been cared at an undisclosed location by a large team including Dallas Animal Services, Texas A&M University and the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and Texas Animal Health Commission among others.
The Dallas Animal Services, which has helped care for the the dog in quarantine, posted images of the dog on Monday as he was being tested.
A team member from the Texas A&M University Veterinary Emergency Team wore full protective gear as he took samples from Bentley.
In Spain, the dog of an Ebola-infected nurse there was euthanized amid fears the animal could spread the virus although there was no confirmation the dog had been infected with the virus. Thousands protested the decision by local government officials.
Pham contracted the virus after she treated Thomas Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. She was moved to the National Institutes of Health hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, on Oct. 16 for further treatment.