The Los Angeles Zoo announced increased safety measures for its employees and animals after a tiger in New York tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend.
The Bronx Zoo tiger case is believed to be the first known instance of person-to-animal infection. Zoo officials in L.A. said Monday they don’t plan to test their animals as none have exhibited symptoms related to the virus. Outbreaks around the world are driven by person-to-person transmission, according to experts.
Instead employees taking care of cat species will now use personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves and are encouraged to practice social distancing. These security measures were already in place for primate, binturong and mustelid species, according to the L.A. Zoo.
“I think the difficulty with this is we don’t know how coronavirus would look like in every single species,” said Dominique Keller, chief veterinarian and director of animal health and wellness for the L.A. Zoo. “Not every animal or group of animals will exhibit the same signs.”
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