New York : Eight big cats comprising two African lions, two snow leopards, an Amur tiger, a puma and two jaguars at the St. Louis Zoo in Missouri are under observation after they tested positive for Covid-19, officials said.
The staff at the zoo have not yet determined the source of the infection, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Friday.
The large felines are expected to recover, as they have mild symptoms, even though some of them coughed and had nasal discharge. None of the other 12,000 animals in the zoo have tested positive for the Coronavirus.
Over the past month, the zoo has vaccinated its animals with an animal-specific vaccine against the disease that has ravaged the human population.
According to the zoo staff, the cats received two doses over a three-week period beginning September 30 but were likely exposed between the doses. The zoo staff are required to get vaccinated and wear masks even indoors to avoid transferring the virus to animals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that the probability of animals spreading coronavirus to humans is low, but there are documented instances of people infecting animals with the virus.
Earlier in the month of September, six big cats at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington also tested Covid positive.
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