Hyderabad: The Asiatic lions, numbering eight at the Nehru Zoological Park have now recovered from covid-19 as per the officials from , the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.
On May 4 the lions were tested positive. Earlier this month, all the eight Asiatic lions had shown mild symptoms of the disease that has rocked the world since it originated in China in December 2019. As per a statement by CSIR-CCMB, zoo authorities had collected the lions’ nasal and throat samples which later turned out to be positive.
After testing positive, the lions were isolated from other animals and kept under proper care, and were given necessary treatment. The zoo officials said that they had responded well to the treatment and showed signs of recovery.
According to March 2021 analysis by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), coronavirus can spread from people to animals in some situations such as close contact of the animal with an infected person.
CDC also noted that this was the same path that SARS-CoV-2 followed as it is likely to be originated in bats as the early infections were linked to a live animal market in China’s Wuhan, though this particular origin theory is and has always been in doubt.
The coronavirus, which has now emerged into several other more infectious variants, spreads easily from person to person. But, CDC denied reports of animals playing an active role in spreading it.
