Three gorillas in the U.S. first infected with COVID-19 in primates
Reporter Yoon Yeo-jin [email protected]
Input: 2021-01-12 14:41:43Revision: 2021-01-12 14:41:43Published: 2021-01-12 15:01:39
On the 11th (local time), some of the gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, located in the Escondido area of San Diego County, California, were confirmed to be corona19. EPA Yonhap News
At a zoo in California, USA, three gorillas were diagnosed with Corona 19. It is the first time in the United States that an infection has been reported in gorilla, a primate with a biological structure similar to humans.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the 11th (local time), two gorillas showed coughing symptoms at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in the Escondido area of San Diego County. . The infected gorillas said they would soon recover their health.
The zoo said that eight gorillas had been living together, and the possibility that the number of infected gorillas will increase further cannot be ruled out.
The Associated Press reported on the day that “the first case of corona infection of an ape is in the United States, and probably the first in the world.”
According to the Associated Press, the zoo has been closed since the 6th of last month due to restrictions on movement in California, and it is estimated that an employee of the zoo’s wildlife protection team infected with Corona 19 has transmitted the virus to gorillas. However, the employee was asymptomatic and was known to always wear a mask whenever around the gorilla.
As of November last year, a total of 119 animals, including dogs, cats, mink, lions, and tigers, were tested positive for Corona 19 in the United States. WP reported that these animals are believed to have been in close contact with humans with the virus.
Reporter Yoon Yeo-jin [email protected]·Some Yonhap News