Experts: Dogs cannot pass Ebola to humans

The Ebola pandemic has exposed the issue of what to do with the pets of those infected.

In the case of the nurse’s aide diagnosed with Ebola in Spain, her dog was euthanized. But the family of Nina Pham, the Dallas nurse who contracted Ebola, pleaded with Dallas authorities not to kill her dog, Bentley.

Authorities decided to monitor Bentley and keep him in isolation for 21 days as a precaution.

But medical experts say there is no risk of the virus spreading from a dog to a human or any other animal.

“The dogs that were looked at even in the endemic areas of Africa, not a single one was shown to be actively shedding the virus and so, therefore, likely not able to transmit it,” said Dr. Megan Pansiera, a veterinarian with North Academy Veterinary Hospital. “At this point there’s really no reason to think that they would be transmitting it to us as humans.”

Dr. John Torres, KRDO NewsChannel 13’s medical expert, said that it’s always possible for viruses to mutate, but there’s been no evidence of that happening so far.

“We have seen this happen before. Examples are swine flu, the bird flu, the avian flu. Viruses can mutate and get to the point where they transmit from animals to humans and that’s how a lot of these diseases happen,” Torres said.

Pansiera explained that dogs exposed to Ebola have the presence of antibodies, proving they’ve come in contact with the virus, but they do not show any symptoms or become ill and they do not pass the virus to another animal or human.

The animals known to contract and transmit Ebola are monkeys and fruit bats, Torres said.