Lucky Dog
Lucky dog: Ebola victim's adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniel tests negative for virus
In great news for animal kind, Bentley the "Ebola dog" does not have Ebola. The rock star Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, who belongs to Dallas Ebola victim and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital nurse Nina Pham, has tested negative for the virus.
According to the City of Dallas, samples from Bentley were sent to a lab on October 21 to be tested for Ebola. The dog has been in a 21-day quarantine, just like people who've been exposed to the virus, but he is still not out of jail yet. Even though the initial results showed that he tested negative, another sample will be collected and analyzed before Bentley is set free.
Dallas Animal Services is overseeing Bentley's care in partnership with the Texas Animal Health Commission, Texas A&M University and the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
That is a lot of agencies to be tending to one dog. One sweet adorable cutie pie of a dog.
Pham continues to be cared for at the National Institutes of Health, NIH, in Maryland. The City of Dallas and DAS are communicating daily updates to Pham throughout the process.
If you'd like to get more information about or donate to Dallas' PETS (Pet Emergency Transition Services) fund, created to raise money for the care of Bentley and other pets in similar emergency situations in the future, click here. For more updates on Bentley, follow Dallas Animal Services on Facebook and Twitter.