We lost one of our cats to cancer last week, but the other, younger cat remains indoors.
The difference in this report is that the 3 cats appeared to be asymptomatic and spread the disease. It is useful to see their shedding duration as well.
I wonder if the CDC realizes (and intentionally words things this way) that "Based on the limited information available to date, the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be low." is like saying "A bull in a porcelain shop is considered to be low risk."
Somehow I don't think the Bronx Zoo large cats spent a long duration at less than 6' from the person they got COVID from. I wonder if he coughed on their food supply, and they got it that way. But perhaps it was cold & the various cats retreated to a common (separately caged) indoor area. Hmm... a map indicates the lions are in a separate section than the tigers, so droplet transmission seems less likely. (Five tigers & three lions had symptoms. AFAIK, there was no testing of any asymptomatic animals (indeed, only 1 animal was tested.)
Edit: 4 tigers & 3 lions had symptoms. Additionally, one tiger didn't have symptoms. All 8 tested positive from fecal samples. All were doing well a couple of weeks later.
The zoo closed on March 16. The first symptoms were noticed on March 27. Two sets of staff attends to the animals on alternate weeks. NYT reported (before the outbreak was known) that among the tasks the staff was doing was "releasing the lions to laze around on exhibit".
The difference in this report is that the 3 cats appeared to be asymptomatic and spread the disease. It is useful to see their shedding duration as well.
I wonder if the CDC realizes (and intentionally words things this way) that "Based on the limited information available to date, the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be low." is like saying "A bull in a porcelain shop is considered to be low risk."
Somehow I don't think the Bronx Zoo large cats spent a long duration at less than 6' from the person they got COVID from. I wonder if he coughed on their food supply, and they got it that way. But perhaps it was cold & the various cats retreated to a common (separately caged) indoor area. Hmm... a map indicates the lions are in a separate section than the tigers, so droplet transmission seems less likely. (Five tigers & three lions had symptoms. AFAIK, there was no testing of any asymptomatic animals (indeed, only 1 animal was tested.)
Edit: 4 tigers & 3 lions had symptoms. Additionally, one tiger didn't have symptoms. All 8 tested positive from fecal samples. All were doing well a couple of weeks later.
The zoo closed on March 16. The first symptoms were noticed on March 27. Two sets of staff attends to the animals on alternate weeks. NYT reported (before the outbreak was known) that among the tasks the staff was doing was "releasing the lions to laze around on exhibit".