Snow Leopard at San Diego Zoo tested covid positive

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• Jul 26, 2021 | moderator

California: Ramil a 9-year-old male snow leopard has been tested positive for covid-19 at the San Diego Zoo after caretakers noticed that he had a cough and runny nose on Thursday. The animal’s stool sample was tested by the zoo staff at state-level lab, both of which confirmed the presence of the coronavirus, the zoo said in a statement.

As per the zoo authority Ramil is not showing any additional symptoms but as he shares an enclosure with a female snow leopard and two Amur leopards the staff assumes that they too have been exposed to the virus so, the animals were kept in quarantine and their exhibit was closed.

Moreover, the zoo authority stated that they were unclear how Ramil got infected with the virus.

Earlier, a troop of eight gorillas at the San Diego Safari Park was infected with coronavirus from a zoo keeper who had the virus but showed no symptoms. The gorilla troop, which now tested covid-19 negative, became the first known example of the virus infecting apes.

Earlier, the animals of the zoo who were most at risk of contracting the deadly virus were administered the vaccine from the animal health company, Zoetis but Ramil was not vaccinated before his infection.