Thread by @natashaldaly

EXCLUSIVE: The first dog positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the U.S. was a German shepherd named Buddy. He has died.

We knew little about US pet cases before now. No identities, scant details, few updates.

Buddy’s owners reached out to me to tell their story: nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/0…

Buddy likely had lymphoma. It's unclear if he was more susceptible to contracting the virus. Buddy’s family, like thousands of families grappling with the effects of the coronavirus around the world, is left with many questions and few answers.

Buddy's owners say they felt a lot of frustration that health experts didn't try to learn more about how the virus might be affecting their dog's body. No one is saying anyone did anything wrong here, including the owners, but their experience was one of confusion and heartbreak.

Their story spotlights the rare experience of having a COVID-positive pet—a distinction shared by only a handful of people in the world. More than 4 million people have been COVID-19+ in the U.S., fewer than 25 pets have. There’s no rubric for navigating the virus in your dog.

When Buddy's case was announced June 2, the USDA shared few details—and that he was expected to recover.

Because I had all of Buddy’s case records, officials then spoke to me about it. This data normally stays between the federal gov't, state health officials, and pet owners.

A FEW SYSTEMIC GAPS:
1. Granular pet case data is NOT shared publicly, across states, or among the vet research community. Blood work, animal's history, underlying conditions, how long the animal shed the virus, etc, etc, etc.

How can researchers look for patterns in pet cases?

...and therefore, how can we begin to answer questions like whether having an underlying condition (like Buddy's likely lymphoma) makes a pet more likely to contract the virus.

Several experts I spoke with say that there needs to be a database WITH this granular data.

2. There is no set rubric for monitoring SARS-CoV-2-positive pets. CDC has general guidelines but ultimately defers to the states & treating vets to decide what to do in each case. Having a baseline for WHAT info is collected from each case could help create consistency in data.

This story was hard to report. Experts are working to get answers, but there's so little we know, and in many ways it's grasping at straws. And in the meantime, pet owners like Buddy's feel like there are missing pieces. But those pieces aren't in place yet :( I really empathize.

Lastly, PSA. If you are:
-an owner of a COVID-positive pet
-a research vet
-a clinical vet
-ANYONE with direct insight into handling of COVID & animal cases

& you want to reach out to me with concerns, tips, or info, my DMs are open. Email in bio. You can DM for my Whatsapp #.