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Clinical Signs of COVID-19 Illness in Dogs

    • 406 posts
    April 28, 2020 11:25 AM EDT

    This question was submitted during the webinar titled Time to Get Tough and "Ruff": Protecting Dogs from Infectious Disease:

    What are the signs of illness for dogs infected with COVID-19?  Are they similar to canine influenza virus (CIV)?


    Dr. Jason Stull, VMD, MPVM, PhD, DACVPM responded:

    To-date (April 2020), the few dogs shown to be naturally infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 have not shown signs of disease (e.g., they remained healthy). If dogs do become ill following infection with the virus, it is likely their signs of disease will be similar to what is seen in other species, such as cats and ferrets (cough, sneezing, fever). Yes, these signs are similar to what would be seen with CIV, kennel cough or other causes of canine infectious respiratory disease complex (CIRDC).