Officials in Dallas won’t kill dog belonging to nurse with Ebola

Ebola patient USA
Photo: AP. Home of nurse infected with Ebola.

Although this is a dog story, I feel it crosses over into those of us who care for cats. When I saw Michael’s story on whether ebola is transmissible between cats and humans, I knew I had to bring everyone this update from Dallas, Texas.

Right now, Ebola is the most feared word in the English language. And for good reason, as the virus is doing things no one saw coming. With this potentially deadly outbreak, which does seem to be what’s happening now outside of Africa, many people are worried about what would happen to their pets, should they become infected.

One person who doesn’t have to worry is Nina Pham, the 26 year old nurse who cared for Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan. Thomas died last week, and now Nina has been diagnosed as having Ebola. Nina is receiving the best of care, including a blood transfusion from American Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly.

It’s believed there was a breach in procedure as Nina was removing her personal protective equipment (PPE) after caring for Thomas, and this error caused her to become infected.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings was recently interviewed by USA Today, where he assured the animal lovers who learned Nina has a dog….

“The dog’s very important to the patient, and we want it to be safe.”

According to Time magazine, cats are immune to the Ebola virus. But what about dogs? The debate is on as to whether dogs can come down with Ebola, be an asymptomatic carrier or directly pass the infection on to humans who come in close contact with the animal. The CDC has even stated on their website that

“…researchers have hypothesized that the first patient becomes infected through contact with an infected animal.”

Imagine how many people wouldn’t come forward for something as minor as influenza, should word go out that cats and dogs belonging to those suspected of being infected will be euthanized rather than quarantined to watch for symptoms. For this reason alone the decision to not euthanize this dog was a good one. People in the United States generally an animal-loving people. What happens to a pet directly affects its caregiver.

I feel Dallas has made a good decision in not only stating Nina’s dog won’t be killed, but to go as far as to say a pet is important to a patient who is trying to overcome a deadly illness.

As for the Ebola virus, a community can best serve its residents by remaining calm and keeping a clear head. A lot of people have compared Ebola to the first years of AIDS, when many argued it would be best to keep the infected in guarded compounds. I still remember reading several articles as a young woman concerning whether cats and dogs could spread the HIV virus.

It was good to read Nina will still have her dog waiting for her after she recovers and can return home. Let’s hope the rest of the country will follow suit, should the Ebola virus continue to spread.


P.S. I’ve read just enough pandemic novels to have a healthy suspicion that this country needs to have a better line of defence in protecting the public. Too many mistakes are being made, and this may only be the beginning. In other words, wash your hands thoroughly everyone. There are many nasty bugs out there, besides Ebola, and stringent hygiene plays a major role in keeping well.

Source: Dogster website

51 thoughts on “Officials in Dallas won’t kill dog belonging to nurse with Ebola”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
    • Thanks for the update Elisa.
      The conclusion that dogs can become infected resulted from ONE French study done in 2005. Hardly, enough evidence to sentence them to death. And, there have been no studies done to confirm that if a dog should become infected that he can transmit to any entity.
      The answers to these questions should have been known 30 some years ago.
      I’m happy that this dog hasn’t been killed though.

      Reply
      • Thanks for that Dee, interesting. On the TV this evening a Liberian official said there are less bodies being collected! Can we believe him? The West African countries where Ebola exists want to play it down. This is dangerous for all of us.

        Reply
        • Ofcourse, they may want to down play it. There’s worldwide hysteria going on, and they are being blamed just like Haiti was blamed for HIV.
          The panic really needs to settle so people can think clearly.
          The blame rests on those people who should have been doing the research 38 years ago. The CDC needs to stop coming off as lily white too, because it was their job to stay on top of any contagious disease. Most likely, they just ignored it because it wasn’t in their own back yard until now.

          Reply
          • Yes, agreed. We can also blame the West for pumping billions into Africa without ensuring it actually makes the continent better in the long term. Countries like Sierra Leone have appallingly poor health care systems. They have 1000 doctors. 100 of them are in the UK! And hundreds of their nurses are in the UK. We are stealing the medical staff who are needed to help contain Ebola. It is an upside down world.

            Reply
  2. A 2nd worker in Texas has tested positive. How do you go back and locate every patient that worker has helped at the hospital since the ebola patient died. Every person that worker has come into contact with for more than a week,

    Reply
    • There are at least 77 more workers being monitored from the Presbytarian hospital in Texas.

      It’s interesting that 5 infected patients have been/are being treated in a Nebraska hospital and not one worker has been infected.

      All hospitals are required to follow CDC protocols when dealing with these kinds of situations. It seems to me that the Texas hospital must have breached precaution requirements. (Are we surprised? This is Texas!). I think all subsequent infected healthcare workers need to be flown out of Texas to more compliant hospitals.

      Reply
      • The Texas hospital has been found to have breached protocols badly. For example, the first patient who died was left on a hospital trolley in the corridor or ward for 2 hours. As I recall the staff who initially treated him did not wear protective clothes.

        Reply
        • Exactly.
          Some of us in the States see Texas as a country of their own. They don’t care about rules or, even life, for the most part. They make their own rules and defy any regulations (that’s one of the reasons Jimbo/Woody may be the way he is)
          So, if anyone cares about their life, the lives of loved ones, or the lives of animals RUN, RUN, RUN out of Texas.

          Reply
        • Miichael I worked security in an ER and I can tell you back in 2009 when I left people who came in very sick were still sitting in the waiting room hours later. I remember going to the supply cabinet and getting some of them a throw up pan and a wet washcloth. The whole ER system at most hospitals is overwhelmed.

          Reply
  3. I think Every Country should have some form of protection at the Airport to help stop the spread. The thing that amazes me is some people think its the Government has done it on purpose. Which im not sure of. As this Virus has been around since 1970. Im 39 so its been like kinda been alive for 45 Years. Abit scarey really.

    Reply
  4. I think people with fevers should be screened before entering the hospital. I am not sure how they would set this up exactly, something similar to the airport check. If a person was suspected of having Ebola, they would be guided to the proper area in hospital.

    Reply
    • I don’t know but I would be surprised if dogs and other animals are not immune and cats are. It does not make much sense to me but I haven’t seen the reasoning behind that theory. Cats have similar anatomies to ours. That said very few diseases are zoonotic – cat to human.

      We are learning about ebola and it is a bit late.

      Reply

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