Tiger tests positive for COVID-19 at NYC zoo
"Tiger tests positive for COVID-19 at New York City zoo, first case of its kind in U.S"
You have noticed the news of a tiger at the New York Zoo being infected with COVID-19, most likely from an infected human. This is not surprising. During the H5N1 avian influenza virus outbreak in Southeast Asia over 15 years ago, tigers in Bangkok zoo had been contaminated by infected patients. During this COVID-19 epidemic, cases of human-animal transmission have already been notified for dogs and cats as confirmed by the World Organization for Animal Health. Experimental studies of COVID-19 infection are underway; some are already online but are under evaluation before final acceptance by the journals scientists. The US Center for Disease Control had already included in his recommendations to avoid direct care of his animal if you know you have COVID-19 or if it is not possible to be well wash hands before interacting with animal. In total, at this time there is no evidence of transmission of COVID-19 from an animal domestic to a human but the infected human is advised to take hygienic precautions vis-à-vis his animal.
What about the news from Denmark about covid-19 infection in mink?
In fact, COVID infection of mink was reported as early as April 2020 by an (excellent) team from the Netherlands (SARS-CoV2 infection in farmed mink, Netherlands, April 2020; Oreshkova et al bioRxiv 2020); this observation has been confirmed in Denmark (NewScientist November 2020) but on a much larger scale given the importance of mink farming in this country. According to a Danish newspaper, 207 livestock farms are affected by COVID and the authorities have taken the decision to euthanize 17 million mink (statement by the Danish Prime Minister). COVID transmissions from mink to humans have been observed. Mutations have reportedly been noted in COVID strains of Danish mink especially in the spike region and could represent an obstacle to the effectiveness of vaccines being synthesized around the world. However, we must remain cautious and wait for the release of the footage. Remember that COVID is capable of infecting bats (of course!) But also felines (tigers, cats), hamsters, rabbits and dogs (Jumping back and forth: anthropozootic and zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on mink farms; Munnink et al bioRxiv).
– Professor Hervé Fleury | Ventum Biotech Scientific Board Member & Virologist at the CHU Bordeaux
Commentary as of March 25, 2021: It is therefore not surprising that cats and dogs are infected with the so-called English variant of covid as has been described very recently in Texas and southern England; animals were infected from humans; they are asymptomatic or have a respiratory infection with cough. Surveillance of inter-species transmission should be a priority for research in the field.
