Tigers can get coronavirus—but you won’t catch COVID-19 from your cat
Rare cases of cats, including a Malayan tiger at NYC's Bronx Zoo, becoming infected with the coronavirus has panicked pet owners, but right now, there's no cause for concern. (Pexels/)From tigers to house cats, the novel coronavirus is affecting animals, too. This week, New York City’s Bronx Zoo confirmed that a 4-year-old Malayan tiger tested positive for the virus. Other recent reports of animals catching SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans, and manifesting some of the symptoms that make people so sick, have scientists and animal carers evaluating a new layer of this puzzling pandemic. All animals who have been confirmed positive for COVID-19—which includes the Bronx Zoo’s tiger, a cat in Belgium, as well as a cat and a dog in Hong Kong—are believed to have caught the virus following close contact with infected humans. A preliminary study from Chinese researchers seems to indicate that companion species...