GUWAHATI: Bronx Zoo’s Chief Veterinarian on April 5 informed that a tiger of the zoo tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Reportedly, this is the first known case of a human infecting an animal and making it sick, the zoo’s chief veterinarian added.
The Wildlife Conservation Society, that manages the zoo informed through a statement that, a 4-year-old Malayan tiger Nadia had tested positive. She was screened for the COVID-19 disease after developing a dry cough along with three other tigers and three lions. The statement also said that all of the cats are expected to recover.
The statement further mentioned, "We tested the cat [Nadia] out of an abundance of caution and will ensure any knowledge we gain about Covid-19 will contribute to the world's continuing understanding of this novel coronavirus."
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Veterinary Services Laboratories, the first tiger at the zoo began showing signs of illness on March 27.
Paul Calle, the chief veterinarian at the zoo, told Reuters news agency, "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."
The zoo also mentioned that "Our cats were infected by a person caring for them who was asymptomatically infected with the virus or before that person developed symptoms."
(With inputs from Reuters)
