Gorillas at Zoo Atlanta test positive for COVID-19

A number of western lowland gorillas at Zoo Atlanta have tested positive for the coronavirus, the zoo announced on its website.

"Recently, Gorilla Care Team members observed coughing, nasal discharge, and minor changes in appetite in several members of the gorilla population," the zoo wrote Friday. "Upon the onset of these signs, the Animal Care and Veterinary Teams immediately pursued testing for SARS-CoV-2. Fecal samples and nasal and oral swab samples were sent to the Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Georgia, where they tested presumptively positive. Zoo Atlanta is waiting to receive the results of the confirmatory tests on samples sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa." It was not clear how many gorillas tested positive.