Nehru zoo lions win battle against Covid
The eight Asiatic lions in the Nehru Zoological Park which contracted Covid-19 last month and have since recovered, will undergo a third set of RT-PCR tests to help scientists from CCMBLaCones, as well as the zoo veterinarians, on how the disease behaves in wild cats that are recovering from an infection of the SARS-CoV-2.
The decision to collect mucus and salivary discharge from the night houses of these lions — all stars of the one of the zoo’s main attractions, the Lion Safari Park — was taken after results from samples collected on May 11 showed positive results for three of the lions.
The lions have recovered and are in normal health. But it is suspected that sometimes, as in the case of humans who test positive if a RT-PCR test is performed though they have been cured of Covid-19, the lions too even after recovery, could be testing positive, a forest department official said.
To ensure that they understand how the disease is behaving in wild animals, it has been decided to collect a third set of samples for the eight lions for testing. As in the previous two instances, the samples will be collected from the saliva and any nasal discharge deposits in the cage of each lion.
Though CCMB-LaCones labs began collecting faecal samples of these lions to study the possibility of testing the animals for Covid-19 using such samples, the findings so far have not been consistent. This prompted the decision to go in for a third round of saliva or nasal discharge sample collection to get the lions tested again.