A photo of a German shepherd named Buddy (unrelated to the dogs in this story), who was hailed as a hero for guiding Alaska State Troopers through winding back roads to a fire at his owner's workshop.

A German shepherd has become the first known case of a US dog being infected with the novel coronavirus, federal health officials announced Tuesday.

(The agency did not provide a photo of the German shepherd.) The news follows a negative result of testing reported by the New York Times, on Winston, a North Carolina pug initially suspected of infection with the novel coronavirus last week.

Studies have shown that cats and ferrets are easily infected by the novel coronavirus, while dogs are less susceptible?