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Dallas Ebola Patient’s Dog Won’t Be Euthanized, Mayor Says

OCT. 13, 2014 UPDATE: The Ebola patient has been identified as Nina Pham of Dallas. Her dog appears to be a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Unlike Excalibur, an Ebola patient’s dog who, despite hundreds of thousands of protests, was euthanized in Madrid last week, a Dallas dog in a similar situation will be allowed to live.

The health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital — who is the first person to become infected with the deadly virus in the United States — is a dog mom.

“This was a new twist,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told USA TODAY. “The dog’s very important to the patient and we want it to be safe.”

Before the patient’s apartment is decontaminated, Brad Smith, of the hazmat emergency response company CG Environmental, told USA TODAY he will work with the SPCA and Dallas animal control officials to remove (and likely quarantine) the dog.

“We’ll assist with that,” he said. “We have the (personal protection equipment) that needs to be worn.”

According to the Dallas Morning News, a hazmat team member entered the apartment early this evening, and gave the dog food and water. The dog has no signs of the virus.

While dogs in West Africa have tested positive for Ebola, there are no documented cases of dogs transmitting it to people.

Along with hundreds of thousands of protesters, Javier Limon Romero, the husband of the Ebola patient in Madrid, had urged officials not to kill their dog and to quarantine him instead. But Madrid health officials insisted that “available scientific knowledge indicates there’s a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to humans,” according to the Associated Press (AP).

“There’s prudence and then there’s, ‘Let’s kill it so we don’t have to think about it,'” wrote Dr. Scott Weese, of the Ontario Veterinary College’s Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, in the Worms & Germs Blog regarding the Excalibur’s euthanization. “The Spanish response to Ebola in a nursing assistant is a demonstration of the latter.”

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesman Thomas Skinner told the New York Times the center recommends that Ebola patients with dogs or cats should “’evaluate the animal’s risk of exposure” — seeing if the pet ingested bodily fluids from the patient, such as vomit, feces or blood. If so, the pet should be monitored for 21 days, which is the incubation period for Ebola.

Photo via USA TODAY

R.I.P. Excalibur: Despite Protests, Madrid Officials Euthanize Ebola Patient’s Dog

JAN. 25, 2015 UPDATE: Although Excalibur can never be replaced, Teresa and her husband have adopted a new dog, a 6-month-old American Staffordshire Terrier named Alma, from a local rescue center.

Excalibur, the 12-year-old dog belonging to Ebola patient Teresa Romero Ramos of Madrid, was euthanized this morning, according to a New York Times report.

Along with hundreds of thousands of protesters, Ramos’ husband, Javier Limon Romero, had urged officials not to kill the dog, but rather to quarantine him instead.

Yesterday, authorities from Madrid’s regional government stated that “available scientific knowledge indicates there’s a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to humans,” according to the Associated Press (AP).

However, there have been no documented cases of dogs with Ebola transmitting it to people, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesman Thomas Skinner told the New York Times.

On the Facebook page for animal-welfare group Villa Pepa Protective Association, Romero had requested their help in saving his dog’s life.

“If they are so worried with this issue, I think we can find another type of alternative solutions, such as quarantining the dog and put him under observation like they did with me,” Romero wrote, as translated by Mashable.com. “Or should they sacrifice me as well just in case? But of course, with a dog it’s easier, it doesn’t matter as much.”

A Change.org petition urging the government not to euthanize Excalibur had more than 387,000 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon.

“If this woman were to die, the dog which has accompanied them for so many years would be an important emotional support for her husband,” wrote Carmen Sanchez Montañes of Sevilla, Spain, who created the petition. “This is not ‘just’ a dog; for this couple, he is one of the family.”

Protesters and animal-rights activists, many of whom brought their own pets, surrounded the home of Ramos and Romero today, unsuccessfully trying to block officials from entering and euthanizing Excalibur.

Ramos, a nursing assistant, was treating a patient in Madrid when she became the first person outside of West Africa to become infected with Ebola. The virus has claimed the lives of more than 370 health workers in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

“There’s prudence and then there’s, ‘Let’s kill it so we don’t have to think about it,'” wrote Dr. Scott Weese, of the Ontario Veterinary College’s Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, in the Worms & Germs Blog. “The Spanish response to Ebola in a nursing assistant is a demonstration of the latter.”

Like so many others, Dr. Weese supported quarantining Excalibur.

“Why not take the opportunity to quarantine and test the dog to see if it was infected?” he wrote. “That would be better for the dog, for its owners and for the next time the situation occurs. You can’t answer all the questions with one dog, but you can start to gather information. Euthanasia is the easiest approach and the one that removes all risk, but there are ways to house and monitor a dog for a few weeks with no contact. Since Ebola virus is spread by direct contact with infectious body fluids, it’s containable with good facilities and precautions. To me, that would have been a better approach from many aspects.”

CDC spokesman Skinner told the New York Times the center recommends that Ebola patients with dogs or cats should “’evaluate the animal’s risk of exposure” — seeing if the pet ingested bodily fluids from the patient, such as vomit, feces or blood. If so, the pet should be monitored for 21 days, which is the incubation period for Ebola.

Madrid authorities stated yesterday that Excalibur would be “euthanized in a way to avoid suffering and using bio-security measures that it did not specify. Its body will later be incinerated.”

Photos via Facebook

Spanish Health Officials Plan to Kill Ebola Patient’s Dog

Teresa Romero Ramos, a nursing assistant in Madrid, became infected with Ebola after treating a patient there. As she fights for her life, she and her husband, Javier Limon Romero, who are both in quarantine, have also been fighting for the life of their dog, Excalibur.

Authorities from Madrid’s regional government stated today that “available scientific knowledge indicates there’s a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to humans,” according to the Associated Press (AP).

What scientific knowledge? Michael San Filippo of the American Veterinary Medical Association told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month that while dogs have tested positive for Ebola, they have shown no symptoms, and there are no documented cases of dogs infecting people with the virus.

A 2005 study published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal confirms this.

On the Facebook page for animal-welfare group Villa Pepa Protective Association, Romero had requested their help in saving his dog’s life.

“I want to publicly denounce a man named Zarco, whom I believe is the chief health officer of the Community of Madrid, [who] told me that they have to sacrifice my dog just like that, with no explanation,” Romero wrote, as translated by Mashable.com. “He asked for my consent, which I denied strongly. He said that they will ask for a court order to enter in my house and sacrifice the dog.”

And that’s just what has happened today. The government “had to get a court order for the euthanization over the family’s objections,” the AP reports.

A lot of animal lovers want to know why Excalibur couldn’t be quarantined instead of killed.

“It would be much easier to isolate or quarantine the dog just as they have the victim’s husband,” wrote Carmen Sanchez Montañes of Sevilla, Spain, who created a Change.org petition that had more than 71,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.

“If this woman were to die, the dog which has accompanied them for so many years would be an important emotional support for her husband. This is not ‘just’ a dog; for this couple, he is one of the family.”

Ramos was the first person outside of West Africa to become infected with Ebola, which has claimed the lives of more than 370 health workers in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

“Or should they sacrifice me as well just in case? But of course, with a dog it’s easier, it doesn’t matter as much.”

According to the AP, authorities stated that Excalibur will be “euthanized in a way to avoid suffering and using bio-security measures that it did not specify. Its body will later be incinerated.”

Photos via Facebook