“Bronx Zoo tiger tests positive for coronavirus” https://t.co/yMsuFxyncJ
OH MAN, I HOPE SHE DIDN’T GET IT FROM EATING AN ASYMPTOMATIC ZOOKEEPER…
THEY TOLD US IT WASN’T TRANSMISSIBLE THAT WAY!
— Mark B. Spiegel (@markbspiegel) April 5, 2020
Please note A Tiger at Bronx Zoo Tests Positive for COVID-19.
Bronx Zoo Comments
Nadia, a 4-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo, has tested positive for COVID-19. She, her sister Azul, two Amur tigers, and three African lions had developed a dry cough and all are expected to recover.
This positive COVID-19 test for the tiger was confirmed by USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory, based in Ames, Iowa.
We tested the cat 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.
Though they have experienced some decrease in appetite, the cats at the Bronx Zoo are otherwise doing well under veterinary care and are bright, alert, and interactive with their keepers. It is not known how this disease will develop in big cats since different species can react differently to novel infections, but we will continue to monitor them closely and anticipate full recoveries.
Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My
I don’t know about bears but the entire cat family is at risk.
Please recall Cat Catches Coronavirus, Quarantined for Two Weeks.
Given that receptors appear to be the same, if humans can infect cats, then it’s logical to presume cats can infect humans.
Most can easily follow this recommendation: Keep your distance from tigers.
“Stay 6 feet from your pets” will be a bit more difficult.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
A Bronx Zoo Tiger Tests Positive for Coronavirus
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Thanks for Tuning In!
Mish
Kept telling her not to eat the crackheads falling in the pit; Can’t tell a cat anything…
Oh noes! Apocolypse Meow!
Stay away from Tigers sounds do-able… I just they stay away from me.
I hope the zoo-keeper has been put down!
Animals and humans were not meant to be in the same proximate area. COVID-19 is thought to have come from bats or pangolins which were sold in the Wuhan market but actually came from remote parts of China.. humans have about 1/1000 of the number of viruses as wild animals. We brought them into places where they shouldn’t have been and the viruses found a new host.
A far simpler and more likely explanation is the virus escaped from a lab.
….as long as one genuinely believes gaggles of tax feeders are better at playing Creator than God is, sure……
In reality, creating functional anything, of any level of complexity, is so far beyond the meager abilities of some run of the mill hairless monkey, that it might as well be pure magic.
Viruses are not simple. As much we like to think humans are somehow better and viruses are simple. This is the third coronavirus pandemic in China in the last 17 years. The last two happen in years where the global economy was doing poorly and travel was low. The first happen in a year where China had barely joined the WTO. The more likely scenario is this time it just happen when global travel was at an all time with China fully integrated into the global economy. Rare animals are eaten and kept as pets in the same market. The fact that there is a 99% match between CoVID-19 and a specific pangolin from Wuhan shows that this virus likely came from some pangolin that was remotely captured and sold in Wuhan. It likely infected the food supply in Wuhan as well. The conspiracy theory of the virus being from a lab in Wuhan actually goes back to a lab in Winnipeg, Canada. Not likely.
Cattle?
So far it seems they are not susceptible to it, I don’t have a study on that but it seems taken that coronaviruses don’t cross easily between people and cattle.
Why are test kits being wasted on animals again?
Wasted?
I believe we need to understand human to animal transmissions
Because they are furry and cute looking (in cages).
It is a game changer if this spreads to many animals. As noted above, what happens if pigs, chickens, cows, mice, etc…can get it and there are massive outbreaks?
I responded above similarly, but I think it bears repeating. No one should be expecting this thing to disappear. We will need to be vigilant for some time after the current outbreak ramps down until either (a) subsequent outbreaks convey immunity to large portions of the population ‘the hard way’ or (b) a vaccine becomes available that produces immunity in large portions of the population (‘the easy way’).
Or we find a way to easily treat it.
Yes – I shouldn’t discount that as a third way. There are a huge number of places working on different ways to short-circuit the life cycle of this virus and one may be successful yet.
Cats and tigers don’t travel on oversees vacations, and would probably reject the pigeon hole accommodation on cruise liners no matter the deal, so they are rather safe.