Nadia, a 4-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement Sunday.
"This positive COVID-19 test for the tiger was confirmed by USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory, based in Ames, Iowa", the statement reads. "She, her sister Azul, two Amur tigers, and three African lions had developed a dry cough and all are expected to recover."
Nadia and the other cats are doing well and are under good medical care, though they are experiencing some decrease in appetite.
"It is not known how this disease will develop in big cats since different species can react differently to novel infections, but we will continue to monitor them closely and anticipate full recoveries", the WCS news release says.
The cat contracted the disease from a zookeeper who "was asymptomatically infected with the virus or before that person developed symptoms". The zoo has remained closed since 16 March due to the virus.
Earlier in the month, data collected in China's Wuhan revealed that COVID-19 had infected local cat populations during the outbreak. Almost 15% of more than 100 cats, the samples of whom had been studied, tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the data published in an article written by local scientists, shows.
