---
title: "Officials Confirm That a Dog Tested Positive For Coronavirus"
description: "Officials at the World Health Organization confirmed that mouth and nose swabs from a dog in Hong Kong have tested \"weakly positive\" for the coronavirus."
date: "2020-02-28"
modified: "2020-02-28"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/officials-confirm-dog-tested-positive-coronavirus"
categories:
  - "Developments"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Medical"
  - "Pathogens"
  - "Viruses"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid19"
  - "dogs"
  - "health"
---

# Officials Confirm That a Dog Tested Positive For Coronavirus

![Officials at the World Health Organization confirmed that mouth and nose swabs from a dog in Hong Kong have tested "weakly positive" for the coronavirus.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/officials-confirm-dog-tested-positive-coronavirus.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Kickstarter\</em\>*

The deadly COVID-19 epidemic might not just be a human problem.

On Friday, [*CNBC* reports](<https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/28/a-dog-in-hong-kong-tests-positive-for-the-coronavirus-who-confirms.html>), officials at the World Health Organization confirmed that mouth and nose swabs from a dog in Hong Kong found low concentrations of the virus, which they characterized as a "weakly positive" result.

According [to the *Wall Street Journal*](<https://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-says-pets-of-coronavirus-patients-need-to-be-quarantined-11582888486>), the dog in question is a Pomeranian belonging to a 60-year-old woman who has been diagnosed with the virus. The Pomeranian showed no symptoms, but another dog and a cat suspected of having the virus both tested negative.

Vanessa Barrs, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Sydney who spoke to the *WSJ*, urged caution. She said that the finding doesn't mean that dogs can get sick from the virus or transmit it back to humans.

“People should not panic," she told the paper. "Pets are very unlikely to be contributing to the spread of COVID-19."

But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [is advising](<https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/steps-when-sick.html>) that people with COVID-19 "avoid contact with your pet, including petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food."

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)