Dogs May Be Able to Transmit Ebola Virus
Okay, I'll admit this one is a little scary. Here's a post on the CDC site that says dogs have been found with the Ebola virus and have been asymptomatic (no symptoms). It goes on to say that dogs may well have been the source in some villages.
" The prevalence rate among dogs from villages with both an animal source and human cases was as high as 31.8%, compared to 15.4% among dogs from villages with human cases but no identified animal source."
This study included a 2% positive rate for dogs in France that were used as a study control!
"Other animals such as guinea pigs (15), goats (16), and horses (17) remain asymptomatic or develop mild symptoms after experimental infection, but Ebola virus infection has never been observed in these species in the wild. Thus, dogs appear to be the first animal species shown to be naturally and asymptomatically infected by Ebola virus."
"Although dogs can be asymptomatically infected, they may excrete infectious viral particles in urine, feces, and saliva for a short period before virus clearance, as observed experimentally in other animals. Given the frequency of contact between humans and domestic dogs, canine Ebola infection must be considered as a potential risk factor for human infection and virus spread. Human infection could occur through licking, biting, or grooming. Asymptomatically infected dogs could be a potential source of human Ebola outbreaks and of virus spread during human outbreaks, which could explain some epidemiologically unrelated human cases. "
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/11/3/pdfs/04-0981.pdf
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