It’s not surprising tigers at the zoo got coronavirus

In the epicenter of the United States’ coronavirus outbreak, even the lions and tigers started coughing.

On Sunday, the Bronx Zoo announced that one of its majestic Malayan tigers tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. Meanwhile, three other tigers and three lions (who were not tested) were also sick and hacking. The zoo said an infected zookeeper transmitted the virus to the exotic cats, which became a well-publicized instance of the insidious microbe jumping between animal species.

Though it might sound strange that large, dominant cats have fallen ill to the same parasite that has severely sickened and killed people around the globe, infectious disease experts aren’t surprised. Animals often pass diseases to other animals. And some 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases in humans come from other animals species, known as “zoonotic diseases.”

For example, the SARS outbreak in 2003 (also a coronavirus) spread from bats, to another animal, to humans. MERS jumped from camels to humans. The dog flu that swept through greyhounds in 2004 came from horses. This latest coronavirus likely originated in bats. There are untold numbers of viruses living in wild animals that could potentially jump from species to species. It’s just a matter of time.

Read the full article on Mashable here: https://mashable.com/article/coronavirus-tiger-cats-zoo-animal-transmission/