Mongolia’s National Center for Zoonotic Diseases (NCZD) said that at least seven beavers in the country have been found infected with Covid-19.
NCZD director Nyamdorj Sogbadrakh told local media that the staff at the Ulaanbaatar Breeding Center in the capital Ulaanbaatar’s environment department took the Covid test in August. After that, the delta variant was detected in seven beavers.
This is the first time that Covid-19 has been detected in animals in Mongolia, Xinhua news agency quoted Sogbdrakh as saying.
** Update 15th September 2021 ** Several news outlets are saying the infected animals are beavers and not otters. The Chinese source below also says two of the beavers have died of Covid.
“This is the first confirmed cases of animal deaths in the country due to COVID-19. The dead beavers were from the Beaver Breeding Center at the Environmental Department of the capital Ulan Bator, and another seven beavers of the center have tested positive for the virus, according to the country’s National Center for Zoonotic Diseases (NCZD).
