Death of six civets in Nandan Kanan Zoo rings in fear

Deputy Director Jayanta Kumar Das said postmortem findings suggested that the civets died due to pneumonia.
For representation only| EXPRESS
For representation only| EXPRESS

BHUBANESWAR: Death of six Common Palm Civets due to ‘lung inflammation’ in a span of two weeks between April and May has sent the Nandankanan Zoo authorities into a tizzy forcing officials to seek Covid test of the mammals. The Centre for Wildlife Health (CWH) at Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar carried out coronavirus test on the samples in one of the city labs. The results, however, were negative for the virus. 

Deputy Director Jayanta Kumar Das said postmortem findings suggested that the civets died due to pneumonia. The samples collected from the civets were sent to CWH for further research. The samples have, however, been stored safely for dispatch to Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly to ascertain whether the illness was caused by any respiratory virus.

“As the flight service has resumed, CWH will send the samples to IVRI to ascertain the exact cause of the deaths and submit a report,” he said. The Zoo had 23 Common Palm civets in three different enclosures. 
The death occured in one of the enclosures where around 11 civets were lodged. The remaining civets of the enclosure have been quarantined and are safe. The enclosure has been disinfected, the Zoo deputy director said. 

Zoo veterinarians who had earlier carried out bacteria culture suspect it to be a viral infection only. “Had it been bacterial it would have been controlled easily. But respiratory disorder was acute and the trend suggests it happened due to viral infection only,” a senior veterinarian of the Zoo said. He, however, ruled out coronavirus. Officials said that the zoo inmates are now being provided vitamins and immunomodulators to boost their immune system and prevent such infections.

Pangolin tests -ve
Bhubaneswar:
The pangolin rescued from a quarantine facility in Cuttack district has tested negative for coronavirus. PCCF (Wildlife) HS Upadhyay said sample of the five-year-old female pangolin sent to one of the labs here has tested negative for Covid-19. The Centre for Wildlife Health (CWH) at OUAT facilitated the sample testing. Athagarh Divisional Forest Officer Sasmita Lenka said the scaly ant-eater will now be released into the wild with adequate security by Thursday.

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