The American pharmaceutical company Zoetis has developed a vaccine against the coronavirus for use in great apes. This was not only necessary for the protection of the animals themselves, but also to reduce the risk of new varieties.
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The 28-year-old orangutan Karen from the San Diego zoo was the first anthropoid in the world to contract the corona virus on January 26. After that, other great apes in the zoo became infected, so the animals had to be kept in isolation. Their infection was linked to a caregiver carrying the virus but had no symptoms. Apes share about 98.5 percent of their DNA with humans, which means that the virus can be transmitted.
In addition, there were fears that the virus would develop new variants by leaps and bounds between different species, which would further complicate global control.
In response, scientists and veterinarians also started working feverishly on a corona vaccine for animals. With success: there is now a drug produced by the American company Zoetis, which specializes in medicines for animals. More than thirty zoos worldwide have now placed orders with Zoetis.
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