Coronavirus is continuing to be a challenge for the medical fraternity to tackle.
The latest victim of this pandemic is a 4-year old Malayan female tiger named Nadia of the Bronx Zoo who has tested positive for COVID-19 or Coronavirus.
Nadia, her sister Azul, two Amur tigers, and three African lions had developed a dry cough and all are expected to recover, a press statement by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) noted on April 5th, 2020.
This positive Coronavirus test for the tiger was confirmed by USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory, based in Ames, Iowa.
The statement also states that ‘It is not known how this disease will develop in big cats since different species can react differently to novel infections.’
Nadia and others are said to be alert and doing well under vet care.
On being asked about the tests being done on Nadia, Dr. Paul Calle, Bronx Zoo chief veterinarian said that “the COVID-19 testing that was performed on our Malayan tiger Nadia was performed in a veterinary school laboratory and is not the same test as is used for people. You cannot send human samples to the veterinary laboratory, and you cannot send animal tests to the human laboratories, so there is no competition for testing between these very different situations.”
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COVID-19 is a disease caused by the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2. It is believed that the virus was first transferred to people at a food market that trades in wildlife in Wuhan, China. 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, WCS states.
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Featured image credit: WCS
