Riverbanks zookeepers are wearing masks to protect certain animals from coronavirus

Riverbanks zookeepers are now wearing masks when tending certain animals.

The actions come after a tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York last month became the first animal in the United States to test positive for COVID-19. Veterinarians tested the 4-year-old tiger named Nadia after several lions and tigers at the New York City zoo developed a dry cough, officials said.

Riverbanks Zoo’s lion and tiger keepers began wearing face masks to protect the animals and each other from infection before the Bronx Zoo announcement, zoo spokeswoman Susan O’Cain said in an email.

In addition, all cat, pig and primate keepers are also wearing face masks to protect those animals because they are most susceptible to the virus, she said.

No cases of the virus in animals or employees at the zoo have been recorded, O’Cain said.

“All of the animals at Riverbanks are healthy and doing well,” she said. “None of the zoo’s keepers have shown symptoms of coronavirus.”

All the workers who prepare food for the animals, called diet prep, also are wearing face masks, O’Cain said.

“Riverbanks has minimal staff on-site who have been practicing social distancing — keeping a six-foot distance — whenever and wherever possible,” she said. “We also have restricted staff from congregating in indoor break rooms.

”Riverbanks continues to adhere to rigorous cleaning and sanitation procedures in all work areas and throughout the park,” she added. “Keepers are also monitoring their temperatures twice daily (morning and evening), and if someone has a temperature above 100 F, they will inform their supervisor and will not come to work.”

There is no conclusive evidence that animals can spread COVID-19 to humans, “but anyone who has coronavirus or believes they might be sick should limit contact with pets and other animals,” O’Cain said.

There have been several cases of house pets testing positive for COVID-19 in other countries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are cases of cats and dogs (and tigers) testing positive for the virus after coming in contact with a human who has the virus, but there is no evidence that shows household pets could spread COVID-19 back to people.

“Studies are underway to better understand the susceptibility of different animal species to the COVID-19 virus and to assess infection dynamics in susceptible animal species,” according to the World Organization for Animal Health. “Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that animals infected by humans are playing a role in the spread of COVID-19. Human outbreaks are driven by person to person contact.”

The first dog to test positive for COVID-19 was in Hong Kong in late February. Public health officials in the semi-autonomous island off China said a dog whose owner had the virus tested “weak positive” and was put in quarantine.

A second dog later tested positive for the virus, but it does not appear they ever transmitted the virus to humans, according to the American Kennel Club.

Coronavirus in cats is pretty common, experts have said, but the new virus is different. Cats can catch COVID-19 from humans, but there’s no evidence that suggests that the virus is widespread among house cats or that they can infect humans.

McClatchy’s Charles Duncan contributed to this report

This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 12:36 PM.