Several tigers have died from a complicated virus infection in Thailand after they were infected with feline parvovirus, a fatal disease in big cats that affects immunity
Livestock officials have found that the 72 dead tigers at the Tiger Kingdom tourist attraction in Thailand had been infected with a deadly virus that was complicated by other bacteria.
Inbreeding among captive tigers may have weakened their immunity, and increased the chance of them being infected with feline parvovirus, according to Thailand’s Department of Livestock. Livestock officials moved to quarantine and disinfect the site in Mae Rim district of the northern province on Friday after dozens of tigers began dying mysteriously on February 8, as per the Bangkok Post.
There were 246 tigers in the facilities, and by the middle of February, around 72 had reportedly died, marking the largest mass death event recorded. After autopsies of the carcasses, feline parvovirus, also known as feline panleukopenia, was found in the dead tigers, according to a veterinary team from the Chiang Mai Provincial Livestock Office.
This is a fatal disease as it severely affects the digestive system and immune response, causing vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, high fever, lethargy and loss of appetite. Mycoplasma bacteria were detected in the animals as a complicating factor, officials said.
According to reports, samples also found further infection with the canine distemper virus which affects the respiratory system. This virus is able to cross into big cats.
All infections found were not transmissible to humans and are not zoonotic, officials said.
Department director Somchuan Ratanamungklanon said: “When tigers fall ill, it is more difficult to detect than in animals like cats or dogs. By the time we realised they were sick, it was already too late.”
The site remains closed for 14 days to contain the outbreak, while surviving tigers have been moved to Tiger Kingdom’s care centre in Mae Taeng.
Animal rights organisation PETA Asia said: “These tigers died the way they lived — in misery, confinement and fear. If tourists stayed away, these places would quickly become unprofitable, and tragedies like this would be far less likely to happen.”
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