First Tiger to contract COVID at Bronx Zoo US - this news is now wide spread. Many have tagged me to this news and are asking about PET Animals.

Kindly do not jump into any conclusion.

Do not abandon Pets or have any disturbing thought about it.

Read this Thread!

COVID19 is a zoonotic disease that means the virus is said to have its source from animals. It is said (not proved though) Bats were d source and there should be an intermediate animals which transmitted id virus to human. The virus can get easily mutated as per its host.

COVID19 started to spread from Dec 19 at Wuhan. WetMarkets were said to be hotspots. After massive spread in China, other countries were also affected. Later on Feb it was said few dogs & a cat were tested positive in Hong Kong . A domestic cat in Belgium too as per Nat Geo News.

April 5, 2020, USDA gave a press release about FIRST confirmed case of a non-domesticated animal testing positive for the novel coronavirus in the world. A 4YO Nadai, Malayan Tiger at Bronx Zoo had respiratory illness and was tested positive.

3 AfricanLions & 3 Tigers at d same zoo show similar symptoms but were tested NEGATIVE for COVID-19. Bronx zoo Authorities said the animal wud have contracted d virus from an asymptomatic zoo staff.

So NO EVIDENCE that domestic/Pet or other animals can transmit d virus to humans

As this is the first case of Big Cats contracting the virus, no clear data is available about the symptoms or d consequences. Need not be the same symptoms as in human.

Samples from the Tiger was tested in VET labs.

Animal samples cannot be tested using kits that's designed for Human. And the same applies vice versa. There are many well established institutions who have the capacity to test animal samples.

In all these cases the animals got virus from HUMAN. So don't worry about PETS.

Many fear about the pets and there is some news abt people abandoning their Pets. Kindly understand that there is NO EVIDENCE that pets (dogs, cats or other animals) can transmit COVID to Human. No need to PANIC.
Animals under human care need human care, they cannot survive out.

The best thing to do,
1.Wash Hands before & after touching Pets
2.Keep them clean& in sterile environment
3.Check their feed& clean fruits before you feed them
4.If you observe any change in behaviour, contact Vet Dr immediately
5.If you have symptoms, ISOLATE yourself.

Here is @natgeo story related to Bronx Zoo Tiger
https://api.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/amp/animals/2020/04/tiger-coronavirus-covid19-positive-test-bronx-zoo?__twitter_impression=true

Read this Thread by @natashaldaly for more details. https://twitter.com/natashaldaly/status/1246900371706036228?s=19

Read this article... Precaution and Prevention is always better. Don't be INHUMANE to your Pets.

…https://www-the--scientist-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/cats-ferrets-susceptible-to-sars-cov-2-study-67374/amp?usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D&amp_js_v=0.1#origin=https://www.google.co.in&cid=1&prerenderSize=1&visibilityState=visible&paddingTop=32&history=1&p2r=0&horizontalScrolling=0&csi=1&storage=1&viewerUrl=https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/cats-ferrets-susceptible-to-sars-cov-2-study-67374/amp&referrer=https://t.co/Xw0FucrcI1?amp%3D1&cap=iframeScroll,navigateTo,fragment,handshakepoll,cid,replaceUrl,fullReplaceHistory

If you are having pets and do care about them.. Read the information in the image attached.