Covid-19 | Lions Covid19: Four lions at Tamil Nadu zoo test positive for Delta variant
Chennai/IBNS: Four lions infected with Covid19 at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park at Vandalur have the coronavirus belonging to the Pangolin lineage B.1.617.2 and are Delta variants as per WHO nomenclature, Zoo officials told the media.
The ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, tested the samples of 11 lions housed at the park to test for SARS CoV-2, and found nine of them were infected, according to a report in the media.
The animals were put under active treatment for the disease, it added.
The director ICAR-NIHSAD informed that the genome sequencing of the coronavirus in the infected lions revealed that 4 sequences belong to Pangolin lineage B.1.617.2 and are Delta variants as per WHO nomenclature, a release issued by the park said, the report stated.
So far, two animals, a male lion named Pathbanathan, aged 12 years and a nine-year-old lioness Neela died of COVID-19, earlier this month.
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