DEAR READERS: The novel coronavirus now causing a global pandemic named COVID-19 should be renamed in honor of young Chinese doctor Li Wenliang. He was the first to raise concerns about this new virus, warning colleagues on WeChat about an outbreak of an illness that resembled severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), later acknowledged as COVID-19. On Jan. 3, Wuhan police summoned and admonished him for “making false comments on the internet.” Li, a family man, returned to work, later contracted the virus from an infected patient and died from the disease on Feb. 7, at age 33. His death was no doubt due, in part, to the stress of being apprehended by the police and silenced by the government for spreading “false rumors.”

An ancient aphorism says that in crisis, there is opportunity. That’s certainly true for the hucksters hoarding and reselling disinfectants and “cures” at inflated prices, and the private-sector profits to be made from test kits, sanitizers, remedial drugs and vaccinations down the line. But there is also the opportunity for humankind to change and live more mindfully, since so many diseases that infect us come from animals -- those we should leave alone, respect and protect in the wild, and domestic ones like pigs and chickens raised under crowded, unhealthy and inhumane conditions. COVID-19 most probably came from bats caught for human consumption and held in an open market in Wuhan.

Hopefully, this global health crisis is catalyzing greater international collaboration in disease prevention and treatment. We may yet see the emergence of a United Environmental Nations that unshackles public health from politics, nationalism and isolationism, prioritizes the health and security of the people, and links public health with environmental and animal health.

Already, with fewer people traveling by air and road, global air quality is improving, and particulate air pollution is a significant factor in human susceptibility to respiratory infections. And there is another golden opportunity: With schools closing and more people spending more time at home, it’s an ideal opportunity to go to the animal shelter and adopt or foster an animal. This will occupy, entertain and educate children in the home and provide companionship for those living alone over the many weeks ahead. It is well documented that having one or more animal companions in our homes improves our physical and mental health, notably our immune systems, with children’s susceptibility to allergies being significantly reduced.

Animal shelters must practice due diligence -- health-screening staff, distance-spacing visitors and prohibiting any physical contact with animals. Adoptions must be done “on-sight only,” since this virus could be transmitted to a cat or dog after being touched by an infected visitor.

CONCERN MOUNTS FOR CHINA’S ABANDONED ANIMALS

Many residents who evacuated from Wuhan, China, as the coronavirus outbreak took hold left pets behind with enough food and water for a few days. Weeks later, many of them have still been unable to return home. Estimates suggest tens of thousands of pets were left in the cities of Hubei province alone, and those that remain alive are at risk of dying soon. To read more, go to cnn.com/2020/3/15/asia/coronavirus-animals-pets-trnd/index.html.

COMPANY HAS VETERINARY SARS-COV-2 TEST READY IF NEEDED

Idexx Laboratories tested thousands of samples from dogs and cats while validating a veterinary test for the novel coronavirus spreading among humans, and the company found no positive results in samples from either species. Company leaders said Idexx would make the tests available if it becomes clear that it is clinically relevant to test pets. (Portland (Maine) Press Herald, March 13)

DEAR DR. FOX: In the next few days, I plan to adopt a 4-year-old female beagle from a local animal shelter. She is currently living in a foster home, and the foster mom has told me that within five minutes of starting a car trip, the dog gets carsick. We live about 45 minutes from the animal shelter. Is there anything I can do to help her until I can get her home to my local vet? Even once I get her home, the trip to our vet will take at least five or 10 minutes.

I can clean up the mess in the car, I just hate to see her upset. I don’t know if the shelter vet will prescribe anything for this, since she will no longer be in their care. Is there anything homeopathic that I can give her? -- L.W., High Point, North Carolina

DEAR L.W.: Good for you for adopting a dog in need of a loving home.

One form of carsickness is more due to anxiety than motion-invoked nausea. Spray your car with an emulsion of oil of lavender, and have a few drops of essential oil of lavender on a bandanna around the dog’s neck before putting her in the car. One-half of a human Dramamine pill may help, given a half-hour beforehand.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: I had a Lhasa-mix dog named Buster for 17 years. He was the child of a rescue dog I had adopted earlier, who I believe made me a puppy to replace himself right before he died.

Buster was a 16-pound ball of gray fluff, and I took him with me everywhere -- on vacation, to work, out to eat. He was always at my side, and never even let out a whimper when I took him to the vet for shots. He trusted that whatever I did for him was for the best.

You can imagine how my life was shattered the day I had to have him euthanized. He’d stopped eating and drinking, could no longer make it up the steps, and had lost complete control of his bowels, to his obvious embarrassment. When the vet said his kidneys were failing and the end was near, I decided to let him go peacefully with me at his side, anticipating a smooth transition. I had been told by others who’d been through this that they would give him a sedative, he would go to sleep, and then be euthanized.

It wasn’t like that at all. As I rested my hand on his back and talked to him, the vet forced an IV in his leg and Buster began screaming bloody murder and wouldn’t stop. He looked over his shoulder at me as if to say, “Mommy, make them stop,” and I could see the whites of his eyes. He was terrified and in pain. He did that until he collapsed in my arms.

What a horrific last memory I have of him. To this day, I wish I had just let him die peacefully in his doggy bed under the desk at my office, where he loved to stay. I would never advise anyone to take their dog to a vet to be euthanized. Never. Ever. -- C.W. Tulsa, Oklahoma

DEAR C.W.: I am so saddened and infuriated that your poor dog was euthanized in this way without a prior sedative injection to make the intravenous injection of the euthanasia agent more fear- and pain-free. That memory will be with you forever, and I appreciate you sharing this to remind all veterinarians that this kind of human error and lapse in humane protocol is ethically unacceptable. It undermines the good name and dedication of what I consider one of the noblest of professions.

SHELTER-CAT CARE: FORGETTING THE OBVIOUS

A recent study by Dutch researchers posted in the British Veterinary Association journal, the Veterinary Record, showed that cats in shelters adapt faster to being caged, and show a significantly faster decrease in signs of stress, if provided with cardboard boxes with a small opening to hide in. While both groups lost equal amounts of weight under the stress of being caged in a shelter, the authors concluded that since hiding boxes reduce behavioral stress, they should be provided for all cats. (W. van der Leij and associates, “Hiding boxes reduce behavioral stress in shelter-housed cats,” PLoSONE 2019)

In my opinion, this would also help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases, since stress can impair the immune system and make cats more susceptible to such infections, which are all too common in animal shelters.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: The American Veterinary Medical Association is actively monitoring developments related to animals and COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

On Feb. 27, a dog in Hong Kong tested “weak positive” for coronavirus (the owner tested positive). The precise meaning of “weak positive” remains unclear, and evaluation is ongoing. The dog has since received a second positive result, which has been sent to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), which is working with Hong Kong health officials on this case. Hong Kong authorities have said the dog shows no clinical signs of illness, but remains quarantined. They contend that cats and dogs cannot pass the virus to humans, but they can test positive for low levels of the pathogen if they catch it from their owners.

At this time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization say there is no evidence that companion animals can spread COVID-19. However, as with any disease, it’s always a good idea to wash your hands after being around animals.

According to the CDC, people who are sick with COVID-19 should limit contact with pets and other animals just as they would limit contact with other people. When possible, a healthy member of the household should take over caring for any animals. If an ill individual must be around pets or other animals while sick, he or she should wear an appropriate facemask and wash hands thoroughly before and after.

A Facebook post implying that a cattle vaccine can prevent infection with the novel coronavirus spreading among humans has been widely shared, but that vaccine prevents diarrhea in calves caused by bovine coronavirus -- an entirely different pathogen from the one that causes COVID-19. Under no circumstances should people ever use any animal vaccine on themselves.

For more details about this emerging disease, see the relevant article on my website (drfoxonehealth.com). Essentially, this emerging disease and others will continue to be threats, calling for ever-more vaccines and medications, so long as preventive medicine remains human-centered and reactive rather than proactive. Governments must address wildlife poaching, trafficking, habitat encroachment, our ever-increasing human numbers and the killing of animals, wild and domesticated, for food.

DEAR DR. FOX: A recent column of yours about race horses really spoke to me. I am on the board of directors of the Equamore Foundation, a horse rescue sanctuary in Ashland, Oregon. We have lived the terrible story of thoroughbred horses thrown in the trash, and we fight against it every day.

Currently, we have 59 rescued equines on our property; the number fluctuates as we lose horses to illness and injury and, sadly, as more animals are identified who need our help. We only take in horses that have no other options. Once they enter our barn, they only leave to cross the rainbow bridge. Many of these horses come from the racing industry, and we have seen the abuse of these magnificent animals -- including starvation, cruelty and abandonment -- up close.

We have been a rescue facility since 1991. Our horses live as horses should: They have a beautiful, cozy barn; daily turnout in the pasture with their herds; good food; vet and farrier care; and the love of the humans who tend to their needs. I would invite you to peruse our website (equamore.org) to read some of the inspiring stories of rehabilitation and redemption of our residents.

To highlight the problems with horse racing, we hold an annual event on the first Saturday in May, coinciding with the Kentucky Derby. We do our best to teach our supporters about the cruelty built into the horse racing industry. And it is an industry -- a business -- where each year’s batch of colts is called a “crop,” like corn or soybeans. I’m sure that this desensitization makes it easier for trainers to shove a less-than-successful and terrified horse into a trailer for the trip to Canada or Mexico for slaughter.

Thank you for all that you do for animals, and the awareness that you bring to the world to make us better stewards of our furry friends. -- Nancy Shulenberger, Ashland, Oregon

DEAR N.S.: I commend you on your active involvement in helping these magnificent, long-abused animals, who are treated by so many as mere commodities. I hope some readers will be moved to support your good work.

I have also written an article, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, in which I set out the scientific and medical reasons that thoroughbred horses should not be raced competitively until they are 3 1/2 to 4 years of age. Before that age, their skeletal and joint structures are too immature to take the physical stress, making them prone to injury and all too often having to be killed on the racetrack. Such a sad reflection of human ignorance, indifference and greed.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)