Belgian Zoo Hippos Test Positive For Covid

Two hippos in a Belgian zoo have tested positive for Covid-19, their keepers announced Friday, stressing that the giant animals do not appear to be in danger

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Dec, 2021 ) :Two hippos in a Belgian zoo have tested positive for Covid-19, their keepers announced Friday, stressing that the giant animals do not appear to be in danger.

The infections at Antwerp Zoo are not the first time that zoo animals have tested positive during the pandemic, but most cases are thought to have been in cats and monkeys.

The building housing Hermien and Imani, a mother and daughter aged 41 and 14, has been closed to the public and their keepers have formed an isolated social bubble.

Antwerp Zoo tested its animals last year and found no cases of coronavirus, but veterinarian Francis Vercammen checked the hippos as cases rose again this winter.

"This time they were expelling snot, which I had tested as a precaution to check for bacteria," he said, explaining how he came to send samples to Belgium's national veterinary lab.