Lions in Hyderabad zoo test COVID-19 positive

 

 

 

IN PERHAPS the first such reported incident, eight Asiatic lions in the zoo here have tested positive for COVID-19 after their saliva samples were thoroughly examined by CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Rakesh Mishra, advisor of the premier research institute said on Tuesday. The Union Environment Ministry said the infection was not caused by any variant of concern, adding all the eight lions, since isolated, have responded well to the treatment and were recovering.

 

Further, there was no factual evidence that animals can transmit the disease to humans any further, it said. “The saliva samples of the Asiatic lions were thoroughly tested and they turned out to be positive. As they were living closely it must have been spread among them,” Mishra told PTI. “Now we are developing a method to test the samples of their faeces. This method would be useful in future as every time it is not possible to collect saliva samples from wild animals,” he added.