Madrid health authorities have put down Ebola patient Teresa Romero Ramos ' dog , Excalibur , despite protests to save the animal 's life . The dog was sedated before being euthanized , according to health authorities . Its body was moved , following protocol , to a place where it could be cremated . Excalibur 's death comes despite a public push , including a Change.org petition signed by about 400,000 people . `` It would be much easier to isolate or quarantine the dog just as they have the victim 's husband , '' the petition stated , rather than forcing Romero and her husband to lose `` one of the family . '' Romero is a nurse 's assistant at Madrid 's Carlos III hospital , where she is believed to have gotten Ebola while caring for missionaries being treated for the virus there . She is in isolation at the same hospital . Her husband is also there under observation , though he has n't shown any symptoms of Ebola . Hospital worker with Ebola 'doing better ' Health authorities put down Excalibur because of concern it may have become infected with Ebola . That raised questions : Can dogs really get Ebola and spread it to humans ? What about other animals ? In Africa , Ebola infection `` has been documented through the handling of infected chimpanzees , gorillas , fruit bats , monkeys , forest antelope and porcupines , '' WHO says , though researchers think fruit bats are what they call the virus ' `` natural host . '' Studies on dogs transmitting the infection are not as conclusive . During the 2001-2002 Ebola outbreak in Gabon , scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found signs of the virus in around 25 % of dogs living in the affected area of the country . Yet none of the animals became symptomatic or died of the disease during the study period . `` The only conclusion that may be safely drawn from this study is that the animals encountered Ebola virus ( and their immune systems responded ) , '' Margaret H. Gilbert , a clinical veterinarian and assistant professor of medicine at Tulane National Primate Research Center , wrote in an email to CNN . `` Whether or not dogs shed Ebola once their immune systems encounter it remains to be seen . '' When other wild animals like chimpanzees are infected with the virus , `` the infection is highly lethal and causes huge outbreaks and massive population declines , '' the scientists wrote in their published paper . How did Spanish nurse catch Ebola ? Dogs may excrete infectious Ebola particles in their urine , feces or drool , the scientists wrote , as has been observed with other animals . `` Asymptomatically infected dogs could be a potential source of human Ebola outbreaks , '' they wrote .
Madrid health authorities euthanize the dog , which will be cremated . Excalibur the dog belonged to Ebola patient Teresa Romero Ramos . Romero tested positive for the virus and is in isolation . Studies on dogs transmitting the disease are not conclusive .