According to veterinarian Sarah Caddy it is possible for dogs to contract norovirus from people (as supported through veterinary cases). It is also possible — in theory — for people to catch the vomiting causing virus.
Norovirus (or the winter vomiting bug) is a very common cause of gastroenteritis. The symptoms, in additional to vomiting, included lethargy, muscle aches, headache, fever. The disease is transmitted via fecally contaminated food or water through person-to-person contact. The virus invariably spreads in crowded public places like schools, cruise ships and nursing homes.
Caddy’s study showed that some dogs produce an immune response to human norovirus. This indicates that some dogs have been infected with the virus. This was further supported by analysis that showed that human norovirus binds to cells of the intestines of dogs
In additional research, Caddy used non-infectious human norovirus particles (viral particles lacks genetic material) to show how it is possible for dogs to contract norovirus.
However, it is not yet known if dogs can shed the virus in sufficient quantities to infect people. What is known is that it does not take many viral particles (as few as 18) to trigger an infection in a human. This means that if dogs can contract norovirus and the viral particles are deposited in their feces then it is theoretically possible for people to contract the disease.
More research would be needed to see if dogs can play a role in the epidemiology of outbreaks of human norovirus. In the meantime, good hygiene precautions should be taken around pets, especially when gastroenteritis is present in a household.
The research has been published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, in a paper titled “Evidence for human norovirus infection of dogs in the UK.”
