The New Scientist reported that, A lion at Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend, Indiana, tested positive for COVID after it started coughing and became breathless. Zoo workers who had cared for the lion later caught the infection. The lion that was infected with the coronavirus probably passed it on to two zoo employees, researchers have said in a new paper. Viral samples collected from the animal and the two workers were identical, with contact tracing suggesting the employees didn’t catch the infection in any other way.

After the lion tested positive, keepers wore respirators when interacting with the lion and all other animals at the zoo. The lion was old and needed to be hand fed by the keepers. The lion was likely first infected by an asymptomatic zoo keeper. The lion had two vaccinations for COVID in September and October 2021. By the time the animal was infected the immunity from the vaccinations had worn off.

COVID-19, can infect many species, and it can pass between humans and animals. The virus likely jumped from an animal to a human in the first place, and past studies have suggested that pet cats and dogs catch COVID from their owners at extremely high rates. Other studies have shown that deer have transmitted the virus to humans. Infected hamsters in a Hong Kong pet shop sparked a human outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID.

A wide variety of zoo animals have been infected by SARS-CoV-2 including gorillas, snow leopards, hippos, hyenas and giraffes. The first zoo animal in the U.S. known to be infected with COVID-19 was a tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City back in April 2021. However, animal to human transmission of COVID has not previously been reported in a zoo setting.