South Africa: Puma and 3 lions infected with Delta variant in Pretoria Zoo

Africa, Animals, Coronavirus, Deaths, Delta, Infection, Lions, PCR, Reservoir, South Africa, Transmission, Zoonosis

Here we report infection of an exotic puma and three African lions in the same private zoo in Johannesburg, South Africa. Genomic surveillance identified the transmission of a Delta variant from a zookeeper to the three lions, similar to those circulating in humans in South Africa. One lion developed pneumonia while the other cases had mild infection. Both the puma and lions remained positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA for up to 7 weeks

MDPI preprint: SARS-CoV-2 Reverse Zoonoses to Pumas and Lions, South Africa

 

 

 

 

Image by Kurt Bouda from Pixabay

** This post was originally published on January 18, 2022 **