Several gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in the US have tested positive for Coronavirus. The United States Department of Agriculture announced this yesterday. Some of the gorillas showed symptoms, including coughing, but none appeared seriously ill.
As per international media reports, the infection seems to have come from a member of the park’s wildlife care team who also tested positive. The park confirmed the presence of COVID-19 through faecal samples of the gorillas.
The gorillas are quarantined together. For now, the park’s team is closely monitoring their behaviour. They are given vitamins, fluids and food but no specific treatment for the virus.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, a national public health institute in the US, it is not clear which animals can get infected.
However, large cats have been the most common animals to be infected. In April last year, a tiger tested positive in the zoo followed by several others including lions and snow leopard. All of them have recovered.
Sonam Pem
