UPDATED *** A DOG IN GEORGIA TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19, EUTHANIZED AFTER ‘SUDDEN ONSET OF NEUROLOGICAL ILLNESS.’ NOT KNOWN IF COVID PLAYED A ROLE.

This story has been updated.

A six-year-old mixed breed dog in Georgia has tested positive for COVID-19; however, the dog was not showing any signs of respiratory illness, according to Georgia’s Department of Public Health. The dog “developed sudden onset of neurological illness which progressed rapidly over the course of a couple of days, and was humanely euthanized,” Georgia’s Department of Public Health said in a statement on Monday.  The dog was tested for the virus ‘out of an abundance of caution’ because its owners had recently tested positive, according to the statement.

Calls and emails seeking additional information about the dog’s case to Julie McPeake, a spokeswoman at Georgia’s Department of Agriculture, as well as to Georgia Assistant State Veterinarian Dr. Janemarie Hennebelle have not yet been returned.

Nancy Nydam, a spokesperson for Georgia’s Department of Public Health, told TCR in an email, “We are not releasing any additional information other than what is in the news release until we get the final histopathology and immunohistochemistry results which might be another 1-2 weeks.”

The DPH wrote in its statement that it was “confirming SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in a pet dog,” adding that “this is only the second dog known to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the United States.” However, according to USDA spokeswoman Lyndsay Cole, Georgia’s case is, in fact, the fourth confirmed case of the virus in a dog. Three dogs in New York have tested positive for the virus, one dog on June 1 and two dogs on June 24, as Cole confirmed. The statement also notes that a second dog in the household was tested for the virus. Those results are pending.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is responsible for confirming suspected cases of the virus in animals through its National Veterinary Services Laboratories.

Calls and emails seeking additional information about the dog’s case to Julie McPeake, a spokeswoman at Georgia’s Department of Agriculture, as well as to Georgia Assistant State Veterinarian Dr. Janemarie Hennebelle have not yet been returned or answered.

Asked for additional details about the dog’s case, Nancy Nydam, a spokesperson for Georgia’s DPH told TCR in an email, “We are not releasing any additional information other than what is in the news release until we get the final histopathology and immunohistochemistry results which might be another 1-2 weeks.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reported that a second dog in the same household did not test positive for COVID-19. In fact, the test results for the second dog are still pending. Also, an earlier version of this story stated that the dog in Georgia was the second confirmed case of COVID-19 in a dog in the U.S. In fact, this is the fourth such confirmed case.