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(dòng)物園的一只四歲的馬來(lái)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(dòng)物園獲得了當(dāng)?shù)睾椭菪l(wèi)生部門以及動(dòng)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(cè)。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(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部實(shí)驗(yàn)室證實(shí)了推定的陽(yáng)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(shuō)，這一陽(yáng)性結(jié)果使納迪亞成為美國(guó)已知的首例動(dòng)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(dòng)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(cè)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(xiàng)測(cè)試包括一個(gè)口腔拭子，一個(gè)鼻腔拭子，和一個(gè)叫做氣管清洗的程序，它允許對(duì)動(dòng)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(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部宣布了這一調(diào)查結(jié)果，因?yàn)樵诖笮拓埧苿?dòng)物身上采集診斷樣本需要全身麻醉，所以只對(duì)其中一只患病動(dòng)物進(jìn)行了測(cè)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(dòng)物的最大利益，將全身麻醉的潛在風(fēng)險(xiǎn)限制在一只老虎身上進(jìn)行診斷，”他說(shuō)。

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(cè)的時(shí)候，老虎怎么會(huì)得到檢測(cè)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(shí)驗(yàn)室進(jìn)行檢測(cè)的，這些實(shí)驗(yàn)室沒有被批準(zhǔn)用于分析人體檢測(cè)。動(dòng)物園表示，對(duì)老虎的檢測(cè)“并沒有從人類健康的努力中獲取檢測(cè)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(dòng)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(guò)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(dòng)物園里還生活著其他一些貓科動(dòng)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(dòng)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(dòng)物病理學(xué)項(xiàng)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(shuō)，由于全球人類感染冠狀病毒的病例超過(guò)100萬(wàn)，而且很多人都把貓當(dāng)寵物養(yǎng)，所以在美國(guó)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(lái)，不同種類的貓對(duì)病毒的反應(yīng)可能有很多不同，”她說(shuō)。“不幸的是，這意味著我們對(duì)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(dòng)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(dòng)物傳播給人類的。

Should I get my animal tested for coronavirus?

我應(yīng)該讓我的動(dòng)物做冠狀病毒檢測(cè)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(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部和疾病預(yù)防控制中心不建議對(duì)動(dòng)物進(jìn)行常規(guī)的病毒檢測(cè)。但美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部表示，情況可能會(huì)改變，“出于極大的謹(jǐn)慎，公眾和動(dòng)物衛(wèi)生官員可能會(huì)決定對(duì)某些動(dòng)物進(jìn)行檢測(cè)。”

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

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