Eight lions at an Indian zoo have tested positive for coronavirus, the Indian government has announced, insisting there is no evidence that the animals can transmit the virus to humans, according to a News report.
The authorities of the zoo in the city of Hyderabad, in the south of the country, took the samples to a research laboratory on March 24, after the lions presented respiratory difficulties.
Following blood tests, nasal and rectal swabs 11 lions nasal and rectal swabs were sent to the National Institute of High Security Diseases and nine samples were positive. The authorities of the zoo said: "According to the results of laboratory tests provided by the Institute, the samples from nine lions tested positive for Covid. In order to ascertain whether the reported results are positive or not, other analyzes will also be carried out."
Meanwhile, a nine-year-old lioness, who was housed in another location in the zoo, died on June 3. The Zoo enlisted the help of the National High Security Animal Disease Institute and Hyderabad Zoo for the treatment protocol as eight lions from Hyderabad Zoo had contracted the disease earlier. The zoo, which is home to 13 lions, has been closed since the lockdown began and it remains a mystery as to how the felines contracted the respiratory virus.
The results come in the midst of the country's crisis due to the dramatic situation it has been experiencing in recent weeks due to the expansion of the coronavirus.
"Based on experience with animals from zoos in other parts of the world that tested positive for SARS-COV-2 last year, there is no evidence that animals can transmit the disease to humans," the Environment Ministry said, Forests and Climate Change.
Scientists currently plan to perform genome sequencing in an attempt to find out whether the strain responsible for the infection comes from humans or other animals. At the moment it is hypothesized that the lions have contracted the virus through a visitor or keeper of the zoo, in fact about 25 employees have been recently infected. The zoo has already been closed.
India has reported more than 300,000 daily Covid-19 infections for 13 days in a row and has already reached 20 million infections.
