COVID-19 IS FOUND IN AT LEAST 90% OF GORILLAS AT ATLANTA’S ZOO

Fri 17 September 2021:

Officials at Atlanta’s zoo said Tuesday that at least 18 of the zoo’s 20 gorillas have tested positive for COVID-19, an outbreak that began only days before the institution intended to get a veterinary vaccine for the primates.

Employees noted the gorillas were coughing, had runny noses, and showed changes in appetite, therefore Zoo Atlanta revealed the first positive tests among the western lowland gorillas on Friday. The respiratory disease was confirmed by a veterinary lab at the University of Georgia.

The National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, has confirmed that at least four of the gorilla samples have tested positive for the delta variant of the virus, according to Zoo Atlanta.

Monoclonal antibodies are being used by the zoo to treat gorillas that are at danger of developing virus problems, according to the zoo.

Officials say there’s no indication the gorillas can transmit the virus to humans, and tourists are too far away to be infected.

Because the gorillas live in four groups of four, zoo authorities claim it’s impossible to isolate affected animals.

Zoo officials say they believe an asymptomatic employee who cares for the gorillas passed on the virus. The employee had been fully vaccinated and was wearing protective equipment such as a mask and gloves.

“According to our guidelines for animal care staff, if they have the slightest symptoms of a cold they are to stay home,” said Dr. Sam Rivera, the zoo’s senior director of animal health. “It so happens that the animal care team member, the following day she developed signs that she suspected might be consistent with COVID and was tested and was positive.”

Senior Director of Animal Health at Zoo Atlanta Sam Rivera said the zoo will vaccinate the gorillas with a veterinary vaccine that it had been on the waiting list for prior to the gorillas’ positive tests.

In January, the virus was treated in eight gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. All of the San Diego silverbacks recovered after being given an experimental antibody treatment.

FILE PHOTO

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