A 4-year-old female Malayan tiger at a zoo in New York City has tested positive for the novel (new) coronavirus, according to results from the National Veterinary Services Laboratories at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Officials say it’s thought to be the first known COVID-19 infection in an animal in the U.S., or of a tiger anywhere. COVID-19 is a disease caused by the coronavirus. The tiger named Nadia – and six other tigers and lions that have also fallen ill – are believed to have been infected by a zoo employee who wasn’t yet showing symptoms, the zoo said. The first animal started showing symptoms March 27, and all are doing well and expected to recover, said the zoo, which has been closed to the public since March 16 amid the surging coronavirus outbreak in New York. Late Sunday night, the zoo tweeted that its chief veterinarian, Dr. Paul Calle said, “The COVID-19 testing that was performed on our Malayan tiger Nadia was performed in a veterinary school laboratory and is not the same test as is used for people.’ There have been a handful of reports outside the U.S. of pet dogs or cats becoming infected after close contact with contagious people, including a Hong Kong dog that tested positive for a low level of the pathogen in February and early March. Hong Kong agriculture authorities concluded that pet dogs and cats couldn’t pass the virus to human beings but could test positive if exposed by their owners. Some researchers have been trying to understand the susceptibility of different animal species to the virus, and to determine how it spreads among animals, according to the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health.