Female Tiger Tests Positive for COVID-19 at Bronx Zoo

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, coronaviruses that infect animals can sometimes be spread to people, but the cases are rare. Previously, it said that it had not received any reports of animals becoming infected with COVID-19 in the United States.

Nadia, a 4-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement Sunday.

Nadia and the other cats are doing well and are under good medical care, though they are experiencing some decrease in appetite.

The cat contracted the disease from a zookeeper who “was asymptomatically infected with the virus or before that person developed symptoms”. The zoo has remained closed since 16 March due to the virus.

Earlier in the month, data collected in China’s Wuhan revealed that COVID-19 had infected local cat populations during the outbreak. Almost 15% of more than 100 cats, the samples of whom had been studied, tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the data published in an article written by local scientists, shows.

Sourse: sputniknews.com