After Hyderabad, Now Two Lionesses At Etawah Safari Park In UP Test Positive For COVID

Days after eight Asiatic lions in the Hyderabad zoo got infected with COVID-19, two adult lionesses at Etawah Safari Park have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Both the animals have been kept in isolation, said the park¡¯s director.

Transmission through any asymptomatic human carrier likely

According to PTI, IVRI Joint Director Dr KP Singh said the chain of transmission of the virus could have taken place through any asymptomatic human carrier, probably caretakers, working at the park. He said the safari park authorities have been advised to shift the infected animals in isolation. The safari park has already been shut for public.

India Today

Treatment has begun

A statement issued by the office of Director of Etawah Safari at evening stated the two lionesses have been tested positive for coronavirus and their treatment has begun as per advised by experts. It also stated condition of both animals is normal.

On May 5, authorities of Etawah Safari sent samples of 14 lions and lionesses to IVRI for tests after two of them fell sick. ¡°We conducted test of all 14 animals and on Thursday sent our report stating that one lioness has been found to be positive for Covid-19. We have asked authorities at Etawah Safari to send the sample of another lioness, which, for now, is a suspected case, for a retest,¡± Dr KP Singh, joint director, Centre for Animal Disease Research and Diagnosis (CADRAD), IVRI (Bareilly), said.

He added, ¡°In our report, we have advised officials at Etawah Safari on ways to treat these two animals, also asking them to get the attendant and caretaker of these two lionesses tested for Covid-19. The lionesses have been isolated from other animals and we have asked the authorities to have them regularly monitored.¡±

Business Standard

8 Asiatic lions tested positive in Hyderabad

The CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology had on Tuesday said eight Asiatic lions in the Hyderabad zoo have tested positive for COVID-19. It had said these animals must have got infected through zoo-keeping staff.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had said the infected animals were behaving normally. The possibility of animals contracting Covid-19 first came to light when a four-year-old female tiger ¡®Nadia¡¯ & six others tested positive at Bronx Zoo in New York City in April last year.

The animals got infected after getting exposed to an asymptomatic zookeeper. There have also been isolated instances of pets getting coronavirus elsewhere in the world, but experts have stressed that there is no evidence of them spreading the disease.

BCCL

Covid-19 is a zoonotic disease

It is believed that Covid-19 is a zoonotic disease, meaning it came to humans from animals, but there is no clear evidence of animals playing any significant role in spreading the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is prevalent in humans.

But different studies have shown that humans can transit the virus to animals upon close contact. United States¡¯ top public health body, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention also confirmed cats, dogs, mink, lions and several other mammals are vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 virus, but the risk of animals spreading Covid-19 to people is considered to be low.