Stay at least six feet away from a tiger...

[Rob Tucker]

Tiger at NYC’s Bronx Zoo tests positive for coronavirus

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/sto...oronavirus


By Associated Press
April 5, 2020
2:10 PM
NEW YORK —

A tiger at the Bronx Zoo has tested positive for the new coronavirus, in what is believed to be the first known infection in an animal in the U.S. or a tiger anywhere, federal officials and the zoo said Sunday.

The 4-year-old Malayan tiger and six other tigers and lions that have also fallen ill are believed to have been infected by a zoo employee, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The first animal started showing symptoms March 27, and all are expected to recover, said the zoo, which has been closed to the public since March 16.

“We tested the cat out of an abundance of caution” and aim to “contribute to the world’s continuing understanding of this novel coronavirus,” said Dr. Paul Calle, the zoo’s chief veterinarian.

The finding raises new questions about transmission of the virus in animals. The USDA says there are no known cases of the virus in U.S. pets or livestock.

“It’s important to assure pet owners and animal owners that at this time there isn’t any evidence that they can spread the virus,” said Dr. Jane Rooney, a veterinarian and a USDA official.

[geochem]

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Tucker

[b]

“It’s important to assure pet owners and animal owners that at this time there isn’t any evidence that they can spread the virus,” said Dr. Jane Rooney, a veterinarian and a USDA official.

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not encouraging findings...
And as far as USDA and Jane Rooney are concerned, there is a scientific "truism" that may apply: "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence..."

How many pets of infected individuals have been tested so far?

[randomq]

Two things I learned from this:

- Even zoo animals are getting tested before front line essential workers.

- Our government's job is to deny everything first and foremost. (There have already been dogs and cats that tested positive in other countries.)

[Chunkster]

Ach du lieber! Tomorrow Siegfried the Chunkhund has to go in for a necessary scheduled treatment. The vets do have a new protocol for checking in and taking the pets into treatment rooms that incorporates social distancing, but how does one disinfect a 30 kilo shaggy dog before readmitting him to the house?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Chunkster,
Prior to leaving, der hund PPE:
http://www.lequotidien.lu/wp-content/upl...40x450.jpg

[Chunkster]

HOTPE, it would need to be much larger and a different color. I wonder if they come in red, black, and gold. Something like this would do:

https://www.cafepress.com/+german_flag_dog,228715186

[ironyak]

geochem - How many pets of infected individuals have been tested so far?

Hard to find out how many people have been tested - who knows about pets.

We do know a handful of pets have tested positive, but they aren't believed to be a significant source of transmission to humans (with all the qualifiers such a statement should imply to everyone)

3/31 - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/...oronavirus

[bystander]

In the original Planet of the Apes films, all the dogs and cats had to be exterminated because of a disease. That's why humans turned to apes as pets. I hope this turn out to be prophetic.

[ironyak]

You damn dirty ape! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlmzUEQxOvA

[bystander]

The film I was thinking about is Conquest of the Planet of The Apes. Now that I looked it up I see I was wrong about the plot. A disease killed all the dog and cats in the film and not the humans.

Given that the virus supposedly came from bats, human to animal and animal to animal transmission seems entirely plausible. God I hope it doesn't get to the point where we have to exterminate all the feral cats and dogs.