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Lion infected with covid-19 probably passed it on to two zoo workers

A lion at Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend, Indiana, tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus after it started coughing and became breathless. Zoo workers who had cared for the lion later caught the infection

By Soumya Sagar

4 March 2023

Big cats, such as lions and tigers, have tested positive for the coronavirus before, but this is the first known case of a lion probably transmitting the infection to zoo workers

Big cats have tested positive for the coronavirus before, but this is the first known case of a lion probably transmitting the infection to zoo workers

James Ahmed / EyeEm/Getty Images

A lion that was infected with the coronavirus probably passed it on to two zoo employees, researchers have said in a new paper. Viral samples collected from the animal and the two workers were identical, with contact tracing suggesting the employees didn’t catch the infection in any other way.

Previous studies suggest that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has been passed from people to animals, such …

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