The 4-year-old Malayan tiger, Nadia, likely contracted Covid-19 from an “asymptomatically infected” zoo employee. After developing a dry cough in late March, Nadia was tested for the virus on April 2. After testing, the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory (Ames, Iowa) determined that the tigress had Covid-19. Nadia is now eating poorly but otherwise healthy. Nadia’s sister, Azul, two Siberian tigers and three African lions also have a persistent dry cough and poor appetite, although they have not been tested.
According to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - the zoo's management agency, tiger Nadia is expected to recover after contracting Covid-19.
Previously, scientists also found that both wild and domestic cats are susceptible to Covid-19. According to the latest research, cats can even infect each other. However, Mr. Paul Calle, chief veterinarian of the Bronx Zoo, said that this is the first time that wild animals have contracted Covid-19 from humans. The worrying thing now is that no one knows how the disease will develop and how complications in tigers will develop, as different species can react differently to new infections. John Goodrich, Chief Scientist and Tiger Program Director at Panthera, a global tiger conservation organization, expressed concern: "If Covid-19 spreads to wild tiger populations and becomes a significant cause of death, the virus could develop into a very serious concern for the future of these animals."
Currently, the Bronx Zoo as well as all 4 zoos and 1 aquarium in New York have been closed since March 16 due to the complicated developments of the epidemic in this city.
This also raises new questions about the spread of Covid-19 in animals. The US Department of Agriculture said there are currently no known cases of infection in pets or livestock in the US.
In addition to tigers, zoos are working to protect apes because they can easily contract respiratory diseases from humans, especially the coronavirus.
Chinese disease control officials have previously identified wild animals sold at a seafood market in Wuhan as the source of the global Covid-19 outbreak. They believe the virus infecting humans likely evolved from a virus found in bats.
The world has also recorded a number of cases of animals infected with Covid-19, including two dogs in Hong Kong in late February and a cat in Belgium in late March. The pets are believed to have contracted the disease from their owners. Later, the South China Morning Post quoted the Hong Kong Agriculture Department as calling for the killing of cats and dogs because there is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted from pets to humans, while conversely, they can be infected from their owners. The USDA and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also confirmed that there is currently no evidence that domestic or captive wild animals can infect humans.
