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Wednesday 24 Apr 2024
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
FILE - In this June 11, 2020, file photo, Devon Prince, front, puts down a sticker to guide visitors at the San Diego Zoo once it reopens, as Emmanuel Lopez, behind, and Ariel Hayes also work, in San Diego. The San Diego Zoo vaccinated nine great apes for the coronavirus during the first two months of 2021, after a troop of gorillas in its Safari Park became infected. The experimental vaccine was developed by Zoetis Inc., a U.S. firm that produces medicine for animals. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Zoo has vaccinated nine great apes for the coronavirus after a troop of gorillas in its Safari Park became infected.
Officials say four orangutans and five bonobos received COVID-19 injections in January and February.
Three bonobos and a gorilla also are expected to receive the vaccine, which is experimental.
The vaccinations followed a January outbreak of COVID-19 at the zoo’s Safari Park. Eight western lowland gorillas got the virus, probably by exposure to a zookeeper who tested positive for COVID-19.
The gorillas had symptoms ranging from runny noses to coughing and lethargy. But they are recovering.
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Source: AP
