Although 3 dogs are known to have tested positive in China for coronavirus or COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) state that it is very unlikely that you and your dog will contaminate each other. yes with COVID-19. The dogs that tested positive in China were thought to have been exposed to too high concentrations of viral contaminants to have the detectable level that they did.
You may have noticed that there is a strain of “coronavirus” on your dog’s vaccination checklist. Fortunately, this is specifically a canine type of coronavirus only. Unfortunately, that strain is not the same as COVID-19. COVID-19 has the potential for other types of animal-human transmission.
Should my dog wear a mask?
No. Applying a mask to your dog can interfere with your dog’s breathing and cause more harm than good.
It is very likely that a dog will not be comfortable with the mask and will keep trying to take it off.
And finally, the masks are designed for human faces, human nose and mouth measurements. If you examined the line of your dog’s mouth, you will see that it cuts deeply along his cheeks. No human mask could cover that effectively.
There are medical masks made for dogs that wrap around their muzzle. However, it is not recommended for the same reasons. It’s not comfortable, it can interfere with breathing, and the dog will keep trying to take it off. Most importantly, your dog is unlikely to contract our COVID-19 strain.
How to protect myself and my dog?
I’m sure many of you are doing a great job on these protective practices. Are they the same ones you’ve been hearing all over the place?
Wash your hands with soap and water for 20-30 seconds.
Frequently clean high-traffic, high-touch surfaces.
Isolate yourself, it’s okay to be around your dog
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth before washing your hands, these are the easiest areas for germs to get into you and make you sick!
COVID-19 generally has an incubation period of 2 days, which is rare, to 5-14 days, which is more average, this is how long you are sick before you start having symptoms.
Humans are highly contagious in this incubation phase, even before they have symptoms.
Humans are still contagious when they blow their noses and cough.
Research has also found that humans even shed the virus in their feces.
Sources:
https://pethelpful.com/misc/Can-Dogs-and-Cats-Get-Coronavirus-Your-Pets-Health
https://vetmed.illinois.edu/pet_column/coronavirus-pets/