一只老虎感染冠狀病毒，你應(yīng)該擔(dān)心你的寵物嗎?

一只老虎感染冠狀病毒，你應(yīng)該擔(dān)心你的寵物嗎?

Nadia is a four-year-old Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo. Last week, she started exhibiting one of the key symptoms of the novel coronavirus: a dry cough.

納迪亞是布朗克斯動物園的一只四歲的馬來亞虎。上周，她開始出現(xiàn)新型冠狀病毒的主要癥狀之一:干咳。

And it wasn't just Nadia — her sister Azul, two Amur tigers, and three African lions were all experiencing the same thing. So the zoo got permission from local and state health departments and animal health authorities, and took a sample from Nadia to be tested for the SARS-CoV-2. The sample was analyzed at the University of Illinois and Cornell University, and the presumptive positive finding confirmed at a U.S. Department of Agriculture lab in Iowa.

不僅僅是納迪亞，她的姐姐阿蘇爾、兩只東北虎和三只非洲獅都經(jīng)歷了同樣的事情。因此，該動物園獲得了當(dāng)?shù)睾椭菪l(wèi)生部門以及動物衛(wèi)生當(dāng)局的許可，并從納迪亞身上采集了樣本，進(jìn)行了SARS-CoV-2的檢測。該樣本在伊利諾伊大學(xué)和康奈爾大學(xué)進(jìn)行了分析，并在愛荷華州的美國農(nóng)業(yè)部實驗室證實了推定的陽性結(jié)果。

That positive makes Nadia the first known infection case of an animal in the U.S., the CDC says.

疾控中心說，這一陽性結(jié)果使納迪亞成為美國已知的首例動物感染病例。

That result raises a number of questions about the virus, and how it could affect the animals we spend time with. We'll tackle those questions here.

這一結(jié)果引發(fā)了許多關(guān)于這種病毒的問題，以及它如何影響我們與之相處的動物。我們將在這里解決這些問題。

How do you test a tiger for coronavirus?

如何為老虎檢測冠狀病毒?

The test involved an oral swab, a nasal swab, and procedure called a tracheal wash, which allows for sampling of the animal's airways.

這項測試包括一個口腔拭子，一個鼻腔拭子，和一個叫做氣管清洗的程序，它允許對動物的呼吸道取樣。

Only one of the ill animals was tested because collecting diagnostic samples in big cats requires general anesthesia, according to the USDA, which announced the finding. "Since all tigers and lions were exhibiting similar respiratory symptoms, the attending veterinarian felt it was in the best interest of the animals to limit the potential risks of general anesthesia to one tiger for diagnostics," he said.

美國農(nóng)業(yè)部宣布了這一調(diào)查結(jié)果，因為在大型貓科動物身上采集診斷樣本需要全身麻醉，所以只對其中一只患病動物進(jìn)行了測試。“由于所有老虎和獅子都表現(xiàn)出類似的呼吸道癥狀，主治獸醫(yī)認(rèn)為，為了動物的最大利益，將全身麻醉的潛在風(fēng)險限制在一只老虎身上進(jìn)行診斷，”他說。

How did the tiger get tested when a lot of people still can't?

當(dāng)很多人還不能被檢測的時候，老虎怎么會得到檢測呢?

The sample from Nadia was tested at veterinary diagnostic labs that aren't approved to analyze human tests. The testing of the tiger "did not take a test or resources from human health efforts," the zoo said.

納迪亞的樣本是在獸醫(yī)診斷實驗室進(jìn)行檢測的，這些實驗室沒有被批準(zhǔn)用于分析人體檢測。動物園表示，對老虎的檢測“并沒有從人類健康的努力中獲取檢測或資源。”

Nadia and the other tigers and lions are doing well and improving, the zoo says, though some have a decrease in appetite.

動物園表示，納迪亞和其他老虎和獅子的情況都很好，而且正在改善，不過有些老虎和獅子的食欲有所下降。

A number of other cat species live at the zoo, including leopards, cheetahs, and pumas; none have showed signs of illness.

動物園里還生活著其他一些貓科動物，包括美洲豹、獵豹和美洲獅;沒有人顯示出生病的跡象。

Do I need to worry about my cat?

我需要擔(dān)心我的貓嗎?

Tigers are a very different species of cat than domestic cats.

老虎和家養(yǎng)貓是一種非常不同的貓科動物。

"They're even in a different genus," points out Karen Terio, chief of the zoological pathology program at the University of Illinois and an expert on medical issues affecting wild cats.

“它們甚至屬于不同的種類，”伊利諾伊大學(xué)動物病理學(xué)項目負(fù)責(zé)人、研究野貓醫(yī)療問題的專家卡倫·特里奧指出。

With more than a million global coronavirus cases among humans, and the many, many people who have cats as pets, Terio says it's significant that the first clinical case confirmed in the U.S. was a tiger, not a domestic cat.

特里奧說，由于全球人類感染冠狀病毒的病例超過100萬，而且很多人都把貓當(dāng)寵物養(yǎng)，所以在美國確診的第一例臨床病例是老虎，而不是家養(yǎng)貓，這很重要。

"It suggests to me that there's probably a lot of differences in how different cat species even respond to the virus," she says. "That unfortunately means there's a whole lot more we don't know about this virus."

“在我看來，不同種類的貓對病毒的反應(yīng)可能有很多不同，”她說。“不幸的是，這意味著我們對這種病毒還有很多不了解的地方。”

Can I catch the coronavirus from animals?

我能從動物身上感染冠狀病毒嗎?

There is no evidence so far of the virus being transmitted from animals to people, other than the origin of the virus itself.

到目前為止，除了病毒本身的起源之外，沒有證據(jù)表明這種病毒是從動物傳播給人類的。

Should I get my animal tested for coronavirus?

我應(yīng)該讓我的動物做冠狀病毒檢測嗎?

The USDA and the CDC don't recommend routine testing of animals for the virus. But the USDA says the situation could change, and "public and animal health officials may decide to test certain animals out of an abundance of caution."

美國農(nóng)業(yè)部和疾病預(yù)防控制中心不建議對動物進(jìn)行常規(guī)的病毒檢測。但美國農(nóng)業(yè)部表示，情況可能會改變，“出于極大的謹(jǐn)慎，公眾和動物衛(wèi)生官員可能會決定對某些動物進(jìn)行檢測。”

If you think your animal has the virus, call your local veterinary clinic.

如果你認(rèn)為你的動物感染了病毒，打電話給當(dāng)?shù)氐墨F醫(yī)診所。