KEY POINTS

  • The man captured the animal from a national park and intended to sell it
  • The animal is in isolation and will later be released into the wild 
  • Earlier, lions had tested positive for Coronavirus in an Indian zoo

A pangolin that was recovered from a COVID-positive man has tested positive for the virus, following which it would be kept in isolation.

Authorities found the creature with a wildlife smuggler in the Indian city of Odisha, reports The Times Of India. Though unconfirmed, pangolins, one of the most illegally trafficked mammals, are said to carry viruses similar to the coronavirus.

The pangolin recovered from Odisha is around two years old and weighs eight kg. Police said the smuggler, identified as Singu Baske from the Mayurbhanj district, confessed to the special squad that he caught the animal from Similipal Wildlife Reserve and intended to sell it.

He was arrested on May 7 and as per protocols, he was tested for the virus and the results came positive. As Baske kept the Pangolin at his home for several days, authorities suspected he might have contracted the disease from the pangolin or vice-versa. It was then that the animal was subjected to the tests, said Animal Rescue secretary Vanoomitra Acharya.

Authorities also released footage showing medical officials administering nasal swabs to the scaly creature. The results came back Wednesday and according to the officials, the animal will be released to forests after the isolation period.

Initial studies undertaken by Chinese researchers, investigating the animal origin of the coronavirus outbreak, had hinted that pangolin may be the “missing link” between bats and humans. According to Arnaud Fontanet, from France’s Pasteur Institute, the disease did not jump straight from bats to humans. "We think there’s another animal that’s an intermediary," Fontanet was quoted by The Guardian.

A report by World Health Organisation too showed that the coronaviruses "highly related to SARS-CoV-2" have been detected in bats and pangolins.

The report adds that the virus probably jumped from an infected bat or pangolin to humans via an intermediary animal. However, it isn't sure which animal acted as the intermediary.

This isn't the first time that animals in India, currently reeling under the COVID-19 outbreak, are testing positive. Last week, eight Asiatic lions at Hyderabad's Nehru Zoological Park tested positive.

The felines were tested after veterinarians noticed mild COVID-19 symptoms, including dry cough and nasal discharge, in them. Zoo officials believe the animals contracted the virus from asymptomatic caretakers.

However, samples taken from three tigers, one civet cat and one black buck at a zoo in Punjab had tested negative for the virus.

China has removed pangolin parts from its list of traditional medicines -- the animal is thought by some scientists to be the possible host of the novel coronavirus
Representational image AFP / Isaac Kasamani
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