Dogs have the capacity to contract the Ebola virus, according to Dr. Jane Orient, director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
"Dogs can acquire Ebola," Orient said Wednesday on "the Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"They may not have any symptoms and we're not really sure whether they can spread it even though they're not symptomatic themselves, but this is a real problem.
"Especially if somebody has vomited in the yard and there may be some dogs around."
Her comments came in the wake of health authorities in Spain killing Excalibur, the pet dog of Ebola patient Teresa Romero Ramos, out of fear the animal was also infected.
Orient — author of
"Sapira's Art and Science of Bedside Diagnosis," published by LWW — approves of increased surveillance at airports to weed out possible cases of Ebola.
"It would be a very good idea to not allow people to come from these affected areas, at least not without a period of quarantine," she said.