What we know about the Bronx Zoo tiger with Covid-19, and how the disease affects other animals – Vox.com

A tiger at New York Citys Bronx Zoo has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials at the US Department of Agriculture said Sunday, raising new questions about how the virus that causes Covid-19 spreads in animals, and whether other animals are at risk of becoming infected with the virus.

The Bronx Zoos tiger a 4-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia is the first animal in the US and the first non-domesticated animal globally to have a confirmed Covid-19 case. At least two pets, a cat and a dog, were infected in Hong Kong; and a cat in Belgium is also believed to have had the virus. All of the pets were owned by people with confirmed Covid-19 cases.

Zoo officials believe the cat as well as her sister, two Amur tigers, and three African lions that are all exhibiting similar symptoms may have been infected by a caretaker who has the virus but is asymptomatic, given that the zoo has been closed to the public since March 16.

Its the first time, to our knowledge, that a [wild] animal has gotten sick from Covid-19 from a person, Paul Calle, chief veterinarian for the Bronx Zoo, said Sunday.

Calle added that his team took samples from Nadia that were sent to scientists and veterinarians at Cornell University, the University of Illinois, and the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory. All samples tested positive. Animal testing for Covid-19 in general requires a protocol that differs from the testing done in humans. For example, testing a tiger includes placing the big cat under anesthesia; the complexity of the procedure led zoo officials to decide only one cat should be tested.

The new confirmed case is a reminder that although scientists have worked rapidly to understand the new coronavirus there is still much that isnt known about how the virus can and cannot spread between species and how it spreads among animals that arent human.

Heres what we know and dont about Nadia, and how Covid-19 spreads in animals.

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What we know about the Bronx Zoo tiger with Covid-19, and how the disease affects other animals - Vox.com