The corona virus was first detected in a tiger. The animal is on the mend. A US agency recommends that infected people minimize contact with the pet.
- Coronavirus * continues to spread in the United States
- New York: hotspot of the corona pandemic
- US agency recommends coronavirus patients to keep clear of animals
USA - In the famous Bronx Zoo in New York , a tiger has contracted the corona virus for the first time. The four-year-old Malaysian tiger cat named Nadia has tested positive for the virus, the zoo operator, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said in a press release.
Nadia had developed a dry cough and was then tested for the coronavirus . Samples of the tiger were examined by a laboratory of veterinary medicine within the US Department of Agriculture and the Covid-19 virus was found there.
Tiger lady Nadia tested positive for Coronaviurs
The test for Tiger is according to Dr. Paul Calle, the senior veterinarian of the Bronx Zoo in New York, about someone other than the one used for humans.
Nadia is already on the mend. With her, her sister Azul, two Siberian tigers and three lions were also tested, who also showed corresponding symptoms. Up to now, the animals in the New York Zoo said that the animals were well apart from a low appetite. Except for the aforementioned big cats, no other animals would have developed any symptoms related to the coronavirus .
Corona virus in big cats - much is still unclear
"So far it is not clear how a viral disease develops in big cats," said the zoo in its statement. So far, it has only been found that different species react differently to contagion with the coronavirus. So far, the zoo in New York has not been able to detect any symptoms in the snow leopards, cheetahs or cougars that are also located there. One should therefore observe the development particularly closely with the infection now present.
A portrait photo of Nadia from the Bronz Zoo in New York. The tiger lady is the first of its kind to have been infected with the corona virus.
© Julie Larsen Maher / WCS / afp
It is also still unclear whether the coronavirus can be transmitted from human to animal. The United States Department of Agriculture, however, recommends that all infected individuals keep contact with pets to a minimum until more information about the virus and its spread is available.
Corona virus in the USA: New York is the hotspot of the pandemic
The United States is the country with the most identified corona infections worldwide. The hotspot of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States * is New York. More than half of all infections in the country were detected in the east coast metropolis. Almost 45 percent of all coronavirus deaths within the United States were residents of the State of New York. (with dpa)
by Daniel Dillmann
* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen editorial network.