The zoo announced Monday that several gorillas in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have contracted the coronavirus.
The zoo tested the gorillas’ fecal samples after two of them started coughing on Wednesday, the zoo said in a news release. Preliminary results returned on Friday showed the animals tested positive, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the results Monday, the zoo said.
The zoo says the tests have confirmed the presence of the virus in only some of the gorillas, but this has not been ruled out in others. Because gorillas live together, zoo officials assume the entire herd has been exposed.
Three of the gorillas are currently showing signs of illness, including coughing, and are being monitored by veterinarians, who will treat each symptom as it occurs, the zoo said. The whole troop is under observation.
“Apart from congestion and coughing, the gorillas are doing well,” Lisa Peterson, executive director of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, said in a statement. ‘The troop stays together in quarantine and eats and drinks. We are hopeful for a complete recovery. ‘
Experts do not know how the virus will eventually affect the gorillas or how its symptoms may progress. The zoo said it is consulting with health officials who have experience in treating the virus if the gorillas become more seriously ill.
Peterson said more than one gorilla tested positive but would not give an exact number.
The gorillas presumably contracted the virus from an asymptomatic staff member, although the zoo follows the recommended safety protocols, and its staff members wear personal protective equipment when in the wild, the zoo said. The zoo has been closed to the public since December 6.
Peterson says the Safari Park plans to tighten its protocols. Staff entering the gorilla cage will now wear some disposable suits over their work clothes. Containers that already had to wear masks must also wear eye protection.
The park first suspected that the gorillas could have been exposed to the virus when a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus more than a week ago. Although the employee did not have COVID-19 symptoms, nearly half of the spread of the pandemic occurs asymptomatically, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.
This means that there was a chance that the warden could have infected the troop. Humans share about 98% of our DNA with gorillas.
The pandemic has been occurring in San Diego County for months, but this is the first time any San Diego Zoo Global animal has been tested positive for the coronavirus.
The gorillas of the Safari Park regularly get flu vaccines, and it is possible that they will one day be vaccinated against COVID-19. But there is no plan that this will happen soon.
“I would never have speculated about when that would be possible,” Peterson said. “We need to focus on the human side of this first and really get it under control in our communities.”
Coronavirus outbreaks have been reported in other zoos. In April, a tiger in the Bronx Zoo tested positive for the virus in what officials said at the time was the first known case of human-to-animal infection. This was followed by the infection of several other tigers and lions. Last month, three snow leopards tested positive in the Louisville Zoo.
There are also reports that other animals are infected with the virus, including minks, ferrets and pets and dogs and cats.
Wosen writes for the San Diego Union Tribune.