Tiger at NYC's Bronx Zoo tests positive for coronavirus

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Quote

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 named Nadia — and six other tigers and lions that have also fallen ill — are believed to have been ...

Read in its entirety: Tiger at NYC's Bronx Zoo tests positive for coronavirus

[NurseBlaq]

So am I the only one upset animals are getting tested when there are many of us humans who can't? I get the animals are sick but there are people dying by the hundreds yet limited testing. The whole process is a mess!

[eerrmm]

36 minutes ago, NurseBlaq said:

So am I the only one upset animals are getting tested when there are many of us humans who can't? I get the animals are sick but there are people dying by the hundreds yet limited testing. The whole process is a mess!

That's the first thing I thought too but I think it's worth noting that it looks like only one tiger was actually tested and the rest showing symptoms are presumed infected because they also came in contact w/ the infected worker.

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

It's going to be very bad news for humans if it turns out that cats (or other household pets) can be carriers...

There are plenty of of animals that can be asymptomatic carriers for disease. For instance, bats are entirely unaffected by ebola but still carry it, which is how ebola first started circulating to humans in the east African epidemic.

I know scientists have said it appears pets can't get infected with COVID, but if it turns out they're just asymptomatic carriers, it's going to be really hard to control the spread (try explaining to a cat or dog that they need to socially distance...)

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

From the above article:

Quote

...The USDA said Sunday it’s not recommending routine coronavirus testing of animals, in zoos or elsewhere, or of zoo employees. Still, Rooney said a small number of animals in the U.S. have been tested through the USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories, and all those tests came back negative except Nadia's....

At the Bronx Zoo, Nadia, her sister Azul, two Amur tigers and three African lions developed dry coughs, and some of the cats exhibited some wheezing and loss of appetite, said Dr. Paul Calle, the zoo's chief veterinarian.

The staff figured there could be a relatively routine explanation for the cats' symptoms but tested Nadia for coronavirus out of “due diligence and an abundance of caution,” Breheny said. Only Nadia was tested because it takes anesthesia to get a sample from a big cat, and she had already been knocked out to be examined.

Calle said the test was different from the one used for people and was carried out by a veterinary school laboratory, not one that handles human samples.

“There is no competition for testing between these two very different situations,” he said.

The seven sickened cats live in two areas at the zoo, and the animals had contact with the same worker, who is doing OK, zoo officials said. They said there are no signs of illness in other big cats on the property....

[NurseBlaq]

1 hour ago, NRSKarenRN said:

From the above article:

Still not the point. Humans can't get tested and there are several tests available. Our federal government seems to think the nation's supply is their personal supply and the states be damned. Same with PPE. There is definitely "competition for testing." Dr Calle can go somewhere I can't say without violating TOS. ?

[tfleuter, BSN, RN]

NurseBlaq - it did sound like you were upset that a test was being denied to a human because a tiger got it. I understand the frustration of too few tests being available for the general public but what does that have to do with a tiger being tested by a veterinary school using supplies that would not be used by humans?

[NurseBlaq]

7 hours ago, tfleuter said:

NurseBlaq - it did sound like you were upset that a test was being denied to a human because a tiger got it. I understand the frustration of too few tests being available for the general public but what does that have to do with a tiger being tested by a veterinary school using supplies that would not be used by humans?

I already addressed and clarified what I said. I'm not going to keep going down the rabbit hole. You understand or you don't. Stop being intentionally obtuse.