'India acts to shield its tigers against COVID-19 malady'

Amid reports of a US zoo tiger found coronavirus positive, India's apex tiger conservation body has swung into action and has asked all tiger range states to keep an eye over big cats and immediately report to authorities, if anyone of m are found having COVID-19 symptoms.

National Tiger Conservation Authority alerted chief wildlife wardens of all tiger range states shortly after Union Ministry of Environment advised states to curb human visits to and movements in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries as precautionary measures against transmission of infection from humans to animals.

It asked m to gear up frontline staff as well as veterinary officials to prevent spread of disease among tigers owing to zootic nature of COVID-19. "I am directed to inform that owing to communicable and zootic nature of said disease, following actions need to be taken to avert disease in wild tigers in India.

"Tigers may be observed for symptoms consistent with COVID-19 such as respiratory signs of nasal discharge, coughing and laboured breathing through direct observation to extent possible, besides through camera trap ims for visible symptoms," said Vaibhav C Mathur, NTCA's Assistant Inspector General of Forests.

He also said it should be ensured that "personnel handling tigers in human-tiger negative interactions and translocation operations be ascertained to be coronavirus negative". y should also take due precaution as advised by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from time to time, he added. 

"For COVID 19 diagsis as well as differential diagses and characterization as highlighted above, samples may be sent to ICAR-approved laboratories as per enclosure. "It is, hence, requested to gear up front line staff as well as veterinary officials engd in monitoring tiger mortality in areas under your jurisdiction to detect disease and prevent its spread in tigers in wild. Being a tifiable disease, any positive case needs to be reported immediately to NTCA for onward transmission to authorities concerned," NTCA said.

Diligence needs to be exercised while handling postmortem cases to record location, and sex of animal while collecting samples for coronavirus diagsis in consultation with state veterinary officials while safeguarding oneself through appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), it said.

As coronavirus is kwn to affect gastrointestinal system in felines, requisite correlation may be made for characterizing virus type in consultation with State Veterinary Department. "Differential diagsis with feline infectious rhi-tracheitis needs to be made as similar respiratory symptoms may be observed," it said.

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