{"id":123696,"date":"2021-05-04T15:01:13","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T15:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=123696"},"modified":"2021-05-04T15:01:13","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T15:01:13","slug":"eight-lions-in-indian-zoo-test-positive-for-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/eight-lions-in-indian-zoo-test-positive-for-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight lions in Indian zoo test positive for COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Reuters) – Eight Asiatic lions at an Indian zoo have contracted the coronavirus, the government said on Tuesday, adding that there was no evidence that animals could transmit the disease to humans.<\/p>\n
Zoo authorities in the southern state of Hyderabad shared samples with a government research laboratory on March 24 after the lions showed signs of respiratory distress.<\/p>\n
The test results come amid a huge surge in coronavirus infections among humans in India.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on experience with zoo animals elsewhere in the world that have experienced SARS-COV2 positive last year, there is no factual evidence that animals can transmit the disease to humans any further,\u201d the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said.<\/p>\n
The Nehru Zoological Park has now been closed, it said in a statement here.<\/p>\n
India has reported more than 300,000 daily COVID-19 infections for 13 straight days and has now recorded 20 million cases of the disease, the second highest number in the world after the United States.<\/p>\n