NORFOLK, Va. – Two tigers at a zoo in Virginia have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday that the Malayan tigers live at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk.
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The zoo said it doesn’t know how its tigers were infected. It’s working with health officials and other experts to find out.
The big cats are named Stubbley and Osceola. They started showing mild symptoms such as dry cough and wheezing last week. Testing later confirmed they have COVID. Test results for a third tiger are pending.
Zoo officials expect them to fully recover as tigers have at other zoos.
The tigers have been removed from the exhibit. Zoo officials say there’s no risk of humans catching the virus.
“The closest contact a visitor could have to the animal is more than 40 feet,” officials wrote in a news release. “The close viewing areas of the tigers, such as their pool or cave, are completely enclosed by glass and rock work. The Zoo is confident that there would be no opportunity to transmit the virus from the tigers to a visitor.”