Even after news broke out about the hospital admission of the alleged boyfriend of Ebola patient Nina Pham due to Ebola-like symptoms, the information about his identity and present condition remain undisclosed.
Pham, a nurse from Dallas, Texas, is the first person in the United States who contracted the deadly virus after attending to visiting Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan. He died on Oct. 8, a few days before Pham was admitted to the Texas Presbyterian Hospital. She was confined on Oct. 13. Since then, her condition has improved from fair, to good.
The alleged boyfriend's condition, on the other hand, remains unrevealed as of press time.
Meanwhile, Pham's Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Bentley has also been admitted into a special facility and will have to undergo a series of tests while in quarantine to find out if he also contracted the Ebola virus.
The City of Dallas Animal Services and the Texas A&M University emergency veterinary team is working together to tend to Bentley's needs while he is in quarantine. Even if he is not showing any symptoms related to Ebola, he still needs to undergo several tests periodically during his 21-day isolated confinement.
The samples of his urine and feces will be sent for testing at an undisclosed laboratory.
There are limited information about the effects of the Ebola virus on dogs as of the moment, and there have been no documented cases of dogs that have contracted the virus and spread it to humans. Bentley's case can help shed light about this.
"We are hopeful that Bentley's journey will contribute to what we know about Ebola and dogs, since they play such an important role in so many people's lives," Dr. Cate McManus from Dallas Animal Services stated, as quoted by NBC News.
Dallas City spokesperson Sana Sayed updated the public about Bentley's condition by presenting several pictures where he is seen playing with his new caregivers.
Sayed also said, "After her care and recovery, the next most important thing to Nina and her family was the safety and health of her beloved companion, Bentley."
If the tests show that he is Ebola free, Bentley will be allowed to go home on Nov. 1.
