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A TIGER AT New York’s Bronx Zoo has tested positive for COVID-19, the institution said has said.
It is believed to have contracted the virus from a caretaker who was asymptomatic at the time.
The four-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia, along with her sister Azul, two Amur tigers, and three African lions all developed dry coughs and are expected to fully recover, the Wildlife Conservation Society that runs the city’s zoos said in a statement.
“We tested the cat 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,” a statement said.
“Though they have experienced some decrease in appetite, the cats at the Bronx Zoo are otherwise doing well under veterinary care and are bright, alert, and interactive with their keepers,” the statement continued.
“It is not known how this disease will develop in big cats since different species can react differently to novel infections, but we will continue to monitor them closely and anticipate full recoveries.”
All four zoos and the aquarium in New York – whose virus death toll has topped 4,000 – have been closed since 16 March.
The zoo emphasized that there is “no evidence that animals play a role in the transmission of COVID-19 to people other than the initial event in the Wuhan market, and no evidence that any person has been infected with COVID-19 in the US by animals, including by pet dogs or cats”.
Chinese disease control officials had identified wild animals sold in a Wuhan market as the source of the coronavirus pandemic that has infected well over one million people worldwide.
According to the US Department of Agriculture website there had “not been reports of pets or other animals” in the United States falling ill with coronavirus prior to news of the tiger Nadia.
“It is still recommended that people sick with COVID-19 limit contact with animals until more information is known about the virus,” the Department’s website says.
In late March, a pet cat was discovered infected with the novel coronavirus in Belgium, following similar cases in Hong Kong where two dogs tested positive for COVID-19.
All of those animals are believed to have contracted the virus from the people they live with.
The Bronx zoo said preventative measures were in place for caretakers as well as all cats in the city’s zoos.
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Oppressively Warm is environmentalist speak for lovely weather ahead this weekend.
They really are such a hap hap happy bunch of non-doomsday and rational thinking folk (not)
What a load of tosh.. A weather warning for night time temperatures of between 11 and 16 degrees for a few days.. Although the weather has been warm lately there has been a persistent cool eastern breeze and it’s making the evening very cool.. A weather warning for not even normal summer weather..
A big angry looking sun as the caption photo!
Effing pathetic. And to think of all the gullible eejits devouring this garbage. 11 to 16 degrees in the middle of June, omg!!
@HP M: at night.
Thank god. Tired of cold weather. The cold Spring was a drag. C’mon global warming do your job.
Come back Evelyn Cusack all is forgiven.
Humidity – which is the amount of water vapour in the air – and ground temperature are not interlinked. So, you can have a relatively low temperature like sixteen degrees but very high humidity levels at the same time. This is what makes for muggy conditions when people complain about it being very “close”. You don’t need a degree in meteorology to understand this.
Its called summer, has happened before.
Not falling for this “Met Éireann”. We all know you’re in the pocket of Big Weather. George Soros. Bill Gates etc…
Quick, kill some cows to bring it down
A night time temperature of 11 degrees… you’d need a light jacket at that temperature! Oppressively warm! What a joke
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