https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52177586
Coronavirus: Tiger at Bronx Zoo tests positive for Covid-19
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Image copyright Corbis via Getty Images Image caption One of the Bronx Zoo's Malayan tigers
A four-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The tiger, named Nadia, is believed to be the first known case of an animal infected with Covid-19 in the US.
The Bronx Zoo, in New York City, says the test result was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa.
Nadia, along with six other big cats, is thought to have been infected by an asymptomatic zoo keeper.
The cats started showing symptoms, including a dry cough, late last month after exposure to the employee, who has not been identified.
"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," Paul Calle, the chief veterinarian at the zoo, told Reuters news agency on Sunday.
There have been isolated instances of pets testing positive for the coronavirus elsewhere in the world, but experts have stressed there is no evidence they can become sick or spread the disease.
Mr Calle said he intends to share the findings with other zoos and institutions researching the transmission of Covid-19.
"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," the zoo said in a statement.
Nadia, her sister Azul, as well as two Amur tigers and three African lions who showed symptoms, are all expected to make a full recovery, the zoo said.
The big cats did have some decrease in appetite but "are otherwise doing well under veterinary care and are bright, alert, and interactive with their keepers", it said.
The zoo said it is not known how the virus will develop in animals like tigers and lions since various species can react differently to new infections, but all the animals will be closely monitored.
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None of the zoo's other big cats are showing any signs of illness. All the tigers showing symptoms were housed in the zoo's Tiger Mountain area. It is unclear if the others will be tested.
All four zoos run by the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York City, including the Bronx Zoo, have been closed to the public since 16 March. New measures will now be put in place to protect the animals and their caretakers at all the facilities.
This coronavirus was first detected in humans in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
The coronavirus (called Sars-CoV-2, which causes the disease Covid-19) is thought to have originated in wildlife and been passed to humans via a live animal market in Wuhan.
The pandemic has been driven by human-to-human transmission, but the infection of Nadia raises new questions about human-to-animal transmission.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The new virus is part of the coronavirus family, which includes the common cold, Sars and Mers
There have been less than a handful of isolated reports of companion animals testing positive for coronavirus, including two dogs in Hong Kong.
There is "no evidence that any person has been infected with Covid-19 in the US by animals, including by pet dogs or cats," the zoo's statement noted.
That is also the view of the World Organisation for Animal Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), which says there is no evidence that pet dogs or cats can pass on the coronavirus.
The World Organisation for Animal Health says studies are under way to understand the issue more. and urges anyone who has become sick to limit contact with pets.
Dr Sarah Caddy, Veterinarian and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, is among experts to respond to the reports.
"It is surprising that the tiger has become infected with what must have been a fairly low dose of virus - we can assume the tiger did not have continual close contact with the asymptomatic zoo keeper," she said about the transmission.
"It is also interesting that the tiger showed clinical signs consistent with Covid-19 in humans. Although scientific proof is lacking, the chance this is just a coincidence is low."
Conservation experts have warned that the virus could pose a threat to some wildlife like the great apes - and have said measures are needed to reduce the risk of wild gorillas, chimps and orangutans.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/nyregion/bronx-zoo-tiger-coronavirus.html
Bronx Zoo Tiger Is Sick With the Coronavirus
Several other tigers and lions have also exhibited symptoms of Covid-19, according to federal officials.
Nadia, a tiger at the Bronx Zoo, tested positive for the coronavirus.Credit...Julie Larsen Maher for the Bronx Zoo
By Joseph Goldstein
A tiger at the Bronx Zoo has been infected with the coronavirus, in what is believed to be a case of what one official called “human-to-cat transmission.”
“This is the first instance of a tiger being infected with Covid-19,” according to the federal Agriculture Department, which noted that although only one tiger was tested, the virus appeared to have infected other animals as well.
“Several lions and tigers at the zoo showed symptoms of respiratory illness,” according to a statement by the department. They are expected to recover.
Public health officials believe that the large cats caught Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, from a zoo employee.
“That’s the assumption, that one of the keepers who was asymptomatic or shedding the virus before they were sick was the source of the infection,” Dr. Paul Calle, chief veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo, said in a phone interview.
While the zookeepers generally keep a barrier between themselves and the cats, they do get within a few feet of the animals. “During the course of feeding and doing enrichment they will come within feet of them but on opposite sides of the barrier,” he said.
The tiger, a 4-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia, appeared visibly sick by March 27.
Her sister Azul and two Amur tigers are also sick. They live in the zoo’s Tiger Mountain enclosure. Another tiger that lives in the same place has “not exhibited any clinical signs,” according to a statement by the zoo.
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“There is no evidence that other animals in other areas of the zoo are showing symptoms,” the Agriculture Department said.
Lyndsay M. Cole, assistant director of public affairs for the department’s animal and plant inspection service, said there have been no reports of sickened animals in other zoos in the United States.
The Bronx Zoo, one of the largest in the United States and one of New York’s top attractions, houses roughly 6,000 animals.
And zoos, unlike museums or Broadway theaters, cannot entirely shut down. Animals still need to be cared for and checked on. Penguin chicks might require help after they hatch. Captive tigers, alligators and grizzly bears probably should not be left to their own devices.
“The animals that we care for rely on us for everything,” Jim Breheny, the director of the Bronx Zoo, told The Times last week before the coronavirus case had been confirmed.
The zoo closed to the public on March 16 and since then about 300 workers of its 700-plus staff were deemed “essential” to care for animals and maintain the zoo’s operations.
They are split in half into two teams, which report on alternating weeks, maintaining social distancing to protect the animals, while providing hay to American bison or offering fish to hungry Magellanic penguins.
“The animals are blissfully unaware of what the rest of us have been going through,” said Mr. Breheny, whose first job at age 14 was staffing the zoo’s camel rides.
The tiger was the only animal tested because the procedure involved general anesthesia, the Agriculture Department said. While there were other tigers and lions showing similar symptoms, the veterinarian wanted to limit the potential risks of general anesthesia to one animal, it said.
“We had a sick tiger and we needed to treat the tiger and know what the cause of the illness was so we could care for it,” Dr. Calle said.
A pet cat in Belgium recently tested positive for the coronavirus, but the American Veterinary Medical Association said that not enough was known to change the current view that neither cats nor dogs appear to be able to pass the virus to people.
A scientific study in China, which has not yet been peer reviewed, found that the virus reproduces “efficiently” in cats and can be transmitted by respiratory droplets, but this was in laboratory conditions. The report did not say what kind of symptoms the cats experienced, if any.
Another report, which has also not yet been peer reviewed, concluded on the basis of blood tests that cats had been infected in Wuhan. The World Organisation for Animal Health says that there is no evidence that cats or dogs spread the disease to humans, but that anyone who is sick should take precautions in contact with their animals as they would with people.
There have been no known reports of pets becoming sick with Covid-19 in the United States. But the Agriculture Department recommended that people who have the virus limit contact with animals.
“If you are sick with Covid-19, avoid contact with your pet, including petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food,” the department said.
Christine Hauser and James Gorman contributed reporting.
Coronavirus: Tiger at Bronx Zoo tests positive for Covid-19
- 6 April 2020
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Image copyright Corbis via Getty Images Image caption One of the Bronx Zoo's Malayan tigers
A four-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The tiger, named Nadia, is believed to be the first known case of an animal infected with Covid-19 in the US.
The Bronx Zoo, in New York City, says the test result was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa.
Nadia, along with six other big cats, is thought to have been infected by an asymptomatic zoo keeper.
The cats started showing symptoms, including a dry cough, late last month after exposure to the employee, who has not been identified.
"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," Paul Calle, the chief veterinarian at the zoo, told Reuters news agency on Sunday.
There have been isolated instances of pets testing positive for the coronavirus elsewhere in the world, but experts have stressed there is no evidence they can become sick or spread the disease.
Mr Calle said he intends to share the findings with other zoos and institutions researching the transmission of Covid-19.
"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," the zoo said in a statement.
Nadia, her sister Azul, as well as two Amur tigers and three African lions who showed symptoms, are all expected to make a full recovery, the zoo said.
The big cats did have some decrease in appetite but "are otherwise doing well under veterinary care and are bright, alert, and interactive with their keepers", it said.
The zoo said it is not known how the virus will develop in animals like tigers and lions since various species can react differently to new infections, but all the animals will be closely monitored.
Skip Instagram post by bronxzoo
Report
End of Instagram post by bronxzoo
None of the zoo's other big cats are showing any signs of illness. All the tigers showing symptoms were housed in the zoo's Tiger Mountain area. It is unclear if the others will be tested.
All four zoos run by the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York City, including the Bronx Zoo, have been closed to the public since 16 March. New measures will now be put in place to protect the animals and their caretakers at all the facilities.
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This coronavirus was first detected in humans in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
The coronavirus (called Sars-CoV-2, which causes the disease Covid-19) is thought to have originated in wildlife and been passed to humans via a live animal market in Wuhan.
The pandemic has been driven by human-to-human transmission, but the infection of Nadia raises new questions about human-to-animal transmission.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The new virus is part of the coronavirus family, which includes the common cold, Sars and Mers
There have been less than a handful of isolated reports of companion animals testing positive for coronavirus, including two dogs in Hong Kong.
There is "no evidence that any person has been infected with Covid-19 in the US by animals, including by pet dogs or cats," the zoo's statement noted.
That is also the view of the World Organisation for Animal Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), which says there is no evidence that pet dogs or cats can pass on the coronavirus.
The World Organisation for Animal Health says studies are under way to understand the issue more. and urges anyone who has become sick to limit contact with pets.
Dr Sarah Caddy, Veterinarian and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, is among experts to respond to the reports.
"It is surprising that the tiger has become infected with what must have been a fairly low dose of virus - we can assume the tiger did not have continual close contact with the asymptomatic zoo keeper," she said about the transmission.
"It is also interesting that the tiger showed clinical signs consistent with Covid-19 in humans. Although scientific proof is lacking, the chance this is just a coincidence is low."
Conservation experts have warned that the virus could pose a threat to some wildlife like the great apes - and have said measures are needed to reduce the risk of wild gorillas, chimps and orangutans.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/nyregion/bronx-zoo-tiger-coronavirus.html
Bronx Zoo Tiger Is Sick With the Coronavirus
Several other tigers and lions have also exhibited symptoms of Covid-19, according to federal officials.
Nadia, a tiger at the Bronx Zoo, tested positive for the coronavirus.Credit...Julie Larsen Maher for the Bronx Zoo
By Joseph Goldstein
- Published April 6, 2020Updated April 7, 2020
A tiger at the Bronx Zoo has been infected with the coronavirus, in what is believed to be a case of what one official called “human-to-cat transmission.”
“This is the first instance of a tiger being infected with Covid-19,” according to the federal Agriculture Department, which noted that although only one tiger was tested, the virus appeared to have infected other animals as well.
“Several lions and tigers at the zoo showed symptoms of respiratory illness,” according to a statement by the department. They are expected to recover.
Public health officials believe that the large cats caught Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, from a zoo employee.
“That’s the assumption, that one of the keepers who was asymptomatic or shedding the virus before they were sick was the source of the infection,” Dr. Paul Calle, chief veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo, said in a phone interview.
While the zookeepers generally keep a barrier between themselves and the cats, they do get within a few feet of the animals. “During the course of feeding and doing enrichment they will come within feet of them but on opposite sides of the barrier,” he said.
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The tiger, a 4-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia, appeared visibly sick by March 27.
Her sister Azul and two Amur tigers are also sick. They live in the zoo’s Tiger Mountain enclosure. Another tiger that lives in the same place has “not exhibited any clinical signs,” according to a statement by the zoo.
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“There is no evidence that other animals in other areas of the zoo are showing symptoms,” the Agriculture Department said.
Lyndsay M. Cole, assistant director of public affairs for the department’s animal and plant inspection service, said there have been no reports of sickened animals in other zoos in the United States.
The Bronx Zoo, one of the largest in the United States and one of New York’s top attractions, houses roughly 6,000 animals.
And zoos, unlike museums or Broadway theaters, cannot entirely shut down. Animals still need to be cared for and checked on. Penguin chicks might require help after they hatch. Captive tigers, alligators and grizzly bears probably should not be left to their own devices.
“The animals that we care for rely on us for everything,” Jim Breheny, the director of the Bronx Zoo, told The Times last week before the coronavirus case had been confirmed.
The zoo closed to the public on March 16 and since then about 300 workers of its 700-plus staff were deemed “essential” to care for animals and maintain the zoo’s operations.
They are split in half into two teams, which report on alternating weeks, maintaining social distancing to protect the animals, while providing hay to American bison or offering fish to hungry Magellanic penguins.
“The animals are blissfully unaware of what the rest of us have been going through,” said Mr. Breheny, whose first job at age 14 was staffing the zoo’s camel rides.
The tiger was the only animal tested because the procedure involved general anesthesia, the Agriculture Department said. While there were other tigers and lions showing similar symptoms, the veterinarian wanted to limit the potential risks of general anesthesia to one animal, it said.
“We had a sick tiger and we needed to treat the tiger and know what the cause of the illness was so we could care for it,” Dr. Calle said.
A pet cat in Belgium recently tested positive for the coronavirus, but the American Veterinary Medical Association said that not enough was known to change the current view that neither cats nor dogs appear to be able to pass the virus to people.
A scientific study in China, which has not yet been peer reviewed, found that the virus reproduces “efficiently” in cats and can be transmitted by respiratory droplets, but this was in laboratory conditions. The report did not say what kind of symptoms the cats experienced, if any.
Another report, which has also not yet been peer reviewed, concluded on the basis of blood tests that cats had been infected in Wuhan. The World Organisation for Animal Health says that there is no evidence that cats or dogs spread the disease to humans, but that anyone who is sick should take precautions in contact with their animals as they would with people.
There have been no known reports of pets becoming sick with Covid-19 in the United States. But the Agriculture Department recommended that people who have the virus limit contact with animals.
“If you are sick with Covid-19, avoid contact with your pet, including petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food,” the department said.
Christine Hauser and James Gorman contributed reporting.
