Are Zoo and Street Animals Safe from COVID-19?

Eight Asiatic lions at the Nehru Zoological Park in India tested positive for Covid-19, bringing up questions and concerns about the spread of the virus among animals. How safe are zoos and free-ranging animals from this virus? Do pets get infected by Covid-19? If so, what treatment and testing are available for animals?

The eight lions at the Nehru Park were tested with the same test used on humans, the RT-PCR test. The pack of lions showed symptoms of the Covid-19 virus-dry cough, loss of appetite, and nasal discharge. This raised the question of whether animal to animal transmission can happen or not. Dr. Rakesh Mishra, the CCMB director pointed out that if animal-to-animal transmission does happen, it is likely to affect zoo animals far more than free-ranging animals as outside animals don’t live in the kind of density zoo animals reside in. He also stated that the chances of human-to-animal transmission could not be ruled out at this point either, which is why the spread of Covid-19 in animals needs to be studied more deeply.

The best method to test the viral load in fecal samples of animals is currently being developed, hoping to make it easier to monitor animals for Covid-19 as collecting nasal samples from wild animals is not always possible. “Once an animal has been detected positive, precautionary measures have to be taken by the respective zoo authorities. They will have to quarantine the animal, the movement of that animal has to be restricted because that is the only way to contain the spread if there is an animal-to-animal transmission, which cannot be ruled out at this point.", said Mishra, adding that the Union Environment Ministry has already directed that all national parks and sanctuaries will remain closed for now. Antibiotics, antiviral, immune boosters, multivitamins will be provided depending on the severity of the infection to help in treating COVID-19 in animals. Zoo animals are generally given nutritious food, and so they are already regularly receiving multivitamins and zinc too. This means that there is no immunosuppression as they are getting balanced nutrition. Therefore, if proper tracking is done, most zoos will be able to contain any chances of an outbreak.

Dr. Vipin Sharma, Veterinarian, Pet Planet Dog & Cat Clinic at Gulmohar Park, New Delhi said, “Covid-19 virus doesn’t affect dogs and cats due to their innate and acquired immunity. The virus might enter into the tissues of dogs but cellular immunity doesn’t allow the virus to multiply. So, dogs and cats are safe from the human COVID-19 virus." This sure is good news for people with pets, but zoo animals will need to be contained in order to track cases.