US president-elect Joe Biden has been taken to hospital after injuring his ankle while playing with one of the family dogs.

Out of an “abundance of caution”, Mr Biden was transported to the Delaware Orthopaedic Specialists to see a doctor and have an X-ray on Sunday (local time) after slipping and injuring his ankle while playing with his dog Major.

The Associated Press reported Mr Biden, 78, suffered “no obvious fracture”. A subsequent CT scan “confirmed hairline (small) fractures of President-elect Biden’s lateral and intermediate cuneiform bones, which are in the mid-foot”, according to a statement from his doctor, Kevin O’Connor.

“It is anticipated that he will likely require a walking boot for several weeks,” Dr O’Conner said.

Tweet from @axios

AP reported multiple requests from journalists to observe Mr Biden entering the doctor’s office were refused.

Leeaving the doctor’s office to head to an imaging centre for his CT scan, Mr Biden was “visibly limping”, though he walked without a crutch or other aid, AP reported.

The President-elect was playing with Major, one of his family’s two German shepherds, on Saturday when the accident occurred. Mr Biden and his wife Jill adopted Major in 2018, having acquired their first dog, Champ, after the 2008 election.

The Bidens have said their dogs will accompany them when they move into the White House after his inauguration on January 20. They also plan to get a cat.

In an earlier statement, Mr Biden’s office said he would be seen by an orthopedist “out of an abundance of caution” after suffering the injury.

Mr Biden’s accident drew a rare supportive comment from his Republican opponent Donald Trump.

“Get well soon,” the outgoing President urging via his favourite social media, Twitter.

Tweet from @realDonaldTrump

Despite the good wishes, Mr Trump is yet to concede he lost the November 3 election to Mr Biden.

On Sunday, Mr Trump used a Fox News interview to repeat his ongoing evidence-free allegations of widespread electoral fraud. His campaign and legal team have lost dozens of lawsuits by failing to convince judges of election irregularities in states including Michigan, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.

Mr Trump was not clear on what legal steps he would take next.

“The problem is it’s hard to get it to the Supreme Court,” he said.

The recount of ballots in Wisconsin’s two largest counties finished on Sunday, confirming Mr Biden won the hotly contested state by more than 20,000 votes.

The Bidens own a house in Newark, Delaware, and spent the Thanksgiving weekend there.

Mr Biden, who turned 78 earlier in November, will be the oldest person to assume the American presidency when he is sworn early in 2021. His health is likely to be watched closely by allies and opponents alike.

-with AAP