As Coronavirus keeps bringing destruction with 70,560 deaths and 1,287,168 cases – there is no corner of the world that is left untouched by its deadly grasp.
In a surprising and shocking news that has come out of New York – a tiger has been found infected by the Coronavirus. The tiger is from the Bronx zoo in New York, where six other big cats also tested positive for the infection.
First case in the world of a Tiger being infected with Coronavirus
This is the first case of a tiger and big cats being infected by COVID-19, other animal infection cases include – the pet cat in Belgium and the two dogs from Hong Kong.
The tiger, named Nadia, is a four-year old Malayan tiger. It is said that she might have caught the virus from an asymptomatic zookeeper who was infected but didn’t have any symptoms.
The Bronx Zoo got them tested, and now they are kept in isolation.
They were infected by a zookeeper who carried the virus
Last month, the big cats started to develop a severe dry cough, reduced appetite, and other symptoms of COVID-19 – which might have been passed to them from an employee whose name is not revealed yet.
Paul Calle, the chief vet at the zoo, said in an interview to Reuters:
“This is the first time that any of us know of anywhere in the world that a person infected the animal and the animal got sick.”
Although some experts have insisted that while animals can catch the virus, but they won’t really get sick – there is an instance from Hong Kong where a dog died of the infection.
And now, seven big cats at the zoo are severely sick.
Four other tigers and two lions are also infected
The other big cats showing symptoms were Nadia and her sister Azul, two Amur tigers and three African lions.
The zoo expects that they’ll make full recovery very soon:
“They are doing well under veterinary care and are bright, alert, and interactive with their keepers.”
It is not known how the virus will develop itself in animals like tigers and lions since we have seen no case like this ever before. The animals are kept under close observation, and all their responses are being recorded to understand the virus better.
How did the zookeeper infect the tigers?
Other big cats at the zoo – four other tigers, cheetah, puma, three leopards and many more – haven’t shown any signs of infection, but the zoo will probably not test them for Coronavirus.
Even though the zoos in America have been closed since 16th March – the zookeepers are still needed to feed and take care of the animals. One of the zookeepers was probably carrying the virus without showing any symptoms, and it has passed on to these animals.
Coronavirus is mild on most animals but it might be lethal for great apes
Animal experts have said that Coronavirus might not be very lethal for cats and dogs, but it could pose a serious threat to great apes such as humans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans.
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