As COVID-19 continues to spread across the world and is reaching new places, officials have been extremely worried about the apes. Since ape DNA is closely similar to that of a human's DNA, scientists have been worried that some of the apes might catch COVID-19.
What officials were not expecting was a tiger to catch the Coronavirus. According to NY Times, a 4-year old Malayan tiger named Nadia in the Bronx Zoo tested positive for the virus. Nadia was reported to have had a dry cough and had lost her appetite. Additionally, Dr. Paul Calle, the chief veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo, stated there are currently three other tigers and a lion at the zoo that show similar symptoms to Nadia.
Many have been outraged that a COVID-19 test would be utilized on a tiger rather than being utilized to save the lives of humans--as testing is limited they do not want tests to be wasted. Dr. Calle assured that the test they used on Nadia is a test not the same kind of test as the one used on humans, which means it does not interfere with human COVID-19 testing.
As written by Joseph Goldstein, one official has called this "'human-to-cat transmission.'" They believe that the cats had caught COVID-19 from a zoo employee. Luckily, the cats are expected to recover from the illness.
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