Eight big cats tested positive for coronavirus in the US: report

Washington: Days after a pet dog in the UK tested positive for COVID-19, now eight big cats at a zoo in the United States have tested positive for coronavirus.

Citing the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Hill reported that infected cats include two African lions, two snow leopards, an Amur tiger, a cougar, and two jaguars. These animals had mild symptoms, although some had a cough and a runny nose.

Other than them, none of the other 12,000 animals at the St. Louis Zoo have tested positive, the local newspaper reported. Staff has not traced the source of the infection among the cats.

The zoo has been vaccinating its animals with an animal-specific vaccine for more than a month against the disease that has wreaked havoc on the world’s human population, The Hill reported.

In September, six big cats tested positive for the coronavirus at the Smithsonian National Zoo.

According to the CDC, the risk of animals transmitting the coronavirus to humans is low, but people have been documented to transmit the virus to animals around the world, according to The Hill.