インド、ゾウ２８頭にコロナ検査　希少ライオン感染死で

【コインバトールＡＦＰ＝時事】インド南部タミルナド州の森林管理当局は９日、同州の保護林でゾウ２８頭に新型コロナウイルス検査を実施したと明らかにした。地元メディアによると、同州では今月、希少なインドライオンが新型ウイルスに感染し死んでいた。（写真はインド・タミルナド州で、ゾウから新型コロナウイルス検査のための検体を採取する獣医師ら）
　現地紙ニュー・インディアン・エクスプレスが先週報じたところによると、タミルナド州チェンナイの動物園で今月初め、新型ウイルスに感染した９歳の雌ライオンが死んだ。同国で新型ウイルスに感染した動物の死が確認されたのはこれが初めてとみられる。さらに８頭のライオンが新型ウイルス検査で陽性を示し、うち２頭が重症だという。
　９日、同州南部のトラ保護区管理官はＡＦＰに対し、ライオンの感染を受けた予防措置として、保護区内キャンプのゾウへの新型ウイルス検査を指示されたと明らかにした。子ゾウ２頭を含む２８頭の鼻と肛門から検体が採取され、同国北部ウッタルプラデシュ州の研究所に送られた。症状の出ているゾウはおらず、検査結果は１週間以内に判明する見通し。
　現地メディアによると、同国東部ジャルカンド州の動物園でも熱を出した１０歳のトラが死に、先週、園内約２０頭のトラに新型ウイルス検査が実施された。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/06/10-11:23）

Twenty-eight elephants have been tested for Covid-19 at a forest reserve in southern India, officials said Wednesday, after the reported death of a rare Asiatic lion from the virus.
In what is believed to be the first known death of an animal in India from the coronavirus, a nine-year-old lioness at a zoo in Chennai in Tamil Nadu state passed away in early June, local media reported.
The feline was among nine lions that had tested positive for the virus, including two who were in critical condition, Chennai's The New Indian Express newspaper reported last week.
After lions in Vandalur Zoo tested positive for Covid-19, we were asked to test the camp elephants as a precautionary measure, a forest ranger at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the south of Tamil Nadu told AFP on Wednesday.
Nasal and anal samples were taken from 28 elephants, including two calves, on Tuesday, and sent to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The animals' handlers lifted their trunks to collect a sample from a nostril, according to video shared by the reserve. They also inserted swabs into the elephants' rectums.
The results are expected to arrive in a week.
The animals had no symptoms, it was just as a precaution, the ranger said.
There was no difficulty in taking the sample swabs themselves as these are all trained elephants.
Some 21 tigers in a zoo in the eastern state of Jharkhand underwent virus tests last week after a 10-year-old tiger with a fever died, local media reported.
The tiger had returned a negative rapid antigen test but officials said they were also awaiting results from an RT-PCR test, the Press Trust of India reported.