Nurse Pham's dog tests negative for Ebola virus

Dog lovers worldwide got good news Wednesday when Dallas nurse Nina Pham's King Charles spaniel was pronounced free of the Ebola virus that infected his owner, according to the Associated Press.

The city of Dallas said 1-year-old Bentley will be tested again before his 21-day quarantine period ends Nov. 1.

Bentley was quarantined after his owner, Pham, was diagnosed with Ebola. She was the first of two Texas nurses infected after treating Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Heath Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. Pham is being treated at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., where her condition was upgraded to good Tuesday.

Bentley was transported from Pham's home after the nurse was diagnosed Oct. 13. He is being cared for by the City of Dallas Animal Services at a decommissioned naval air base. The veterinary emergency team at Texas A&M University, which cared for the pooch, said the staff had “fallen in love” with him.

There was an international uproar after Spanish authorities euthanized a dog belonging to a nursing assistant who contracted Ebola while taking care of a Spanish priest who was infected by the virus in West Africa.

How to handle the pets of people who contract Ebola is no joking matter. Dogs can be asymptomatic carriers of the virus, according to NIH research. So it's a serious question of what to do with them. For one thing, who is going to clean up their poop, and how?

Follow Harris Meyer on Twitter: @MHHmeyer