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An undated image released by animal rights organisation PACMA shows a dog named Excalibur, who is owned by Javier Limon and his wife, a nursing assistant who got infected with Ebola in Madrid.PACMA/The Associated Press

Monkeys, bats and a menagerie of animals can spread Ebola. There was worry that dogs or one dog in particular might spread it too. Health authorities on Thursday put down Excalibur, the pet of a Spanish nursing assistant who has the deadly virus.

Officials in Madrid got a court order to euthanize Excalibur, who lived with the nurse and her husband in a suburban flat, saying the animal posed a biological risk and there was evidence dogs could carry the virus.

No case of Ebola spreading to people from dogs has ever been documented, but "clearly we want to look at all possibilities," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

EBOLA: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

The overall death toll from the epidemic reached 3,879 out of a total of 8,033 cases in West Africa and the United States as of Oct. 5, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

Can dogs get Ebola?

At least one major study suggests they can, without showing symptoms. Researchers tested dogs during the 2001-02 Ebola outbreak in Gabon after seeing some of them eating infected dead animals. Of the 337 dogs from various towns and villages, 9 to 25 per cent showed antibodies to Ebola, a sign they were infected or exposed to the virus.

What's the risk to people?

No one really knows. Lab experiments on other animals suggest their urine, saliva or stool might contain the virus. That means that in theory, people might catch it through an infected dog licking or biting them, or from grooming.

Why is this dog suspect?

The nursing assistant and her husband have been in isolation since she tested positive for Ebola this week. She helped care for a missionary priest who died of Ebola. The Madrid regional government got a court order to euthanize their dog, saying "available scientific information" can't rule out "a risk of contagion."

Does everyone agree that's best?

No. The dog's owners didn't want it killed, and an animal-rights group wanted it quarantined instead, although it's not clear how effective that would be since infected dogs don't show symptoms, and it's not known how long the virus can last in them.

The dog was taken out of the nurse's apartment block in a police-protected van with the windows blacked out and a driver in a protective suit while around 30 animal rights activists shouted "Murderers!"

Carlos Rodriguez, a Spanish veterinarian and host of a talk show about animals, said the husband messaged him from the hospital, trying to grant him temporary custody of the mixed-breed dog. But after officials got a court order, "I can't stop this happening," Rodriguez said. The husband "asked me, crying, to at least make sure the animal does not suffer."

Dr. Peter Cowen, a veterinarian at North Carolina State University who has advised global health experts on animal infection disease risks, thinks officials overreacted. "They should really study it instead," he said.

What about other dogs?

The risk that dogs might spread Ebola is very small in the United states or other places where dogs aren't near corpses or eating infected animals, said Sharon Curtis Granskog, a spokeswoman for the American Veterinary Medical Association.

In Dallas, health officials are monitoring 48 people who may have had contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who died Wednesday, but "we are not monitoring any animals at this time," Texas Health Commissioner David Lakey said.

With a report from Reuters

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