TAMPA, Fla. — Personnel caring for animals at Bay area animal attractions like ZooTampa and Busch Gardens are all wearing personal protective gear to avoid potentially spreading the virus. It's a move made "in an abundance of caution" after a Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York tested positive for the coronavirus recently.

Last week, Nadia, a four-year-old tiger, was the first confirmed case of an animal contracting the virus in the United States.  

It is still unclear how Nadia contracted the coronavirus. However, ZooTampa, like other zoos nationwide, put extra measures in place to make sure their personnel and their animals were kept healthy. 

“There is nothing here at the zoo, we are all healthy,” says ZooTampa spokesperson Cynthia Stringfield.

She went on say they've done everything they could to avoid spreading the virus, putting some measure in place even before the positive test at the Bronx Zoo. 

“We have been wearing N-95 masks since early March,” she explained.  

Busch Gardens also confirmed in a statement that they’re taking extra precautions:

Our animal experts are carefully monitoring the recent news regarding a tiger in New York testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. Out of an abundance of caution, teams working around the park’s tigers, lions, cheetahs and other animals are wearing personal protective equipment such as gloves and surgical masks.

The CDC says science has not yet demonstrated that animals can spread it to others. 

“Right now, it does not look like these cases can be spread from animal-to-animal,” says Stringfield.  

That conclusion applies to household pets as well.  

”At this time, there is no evidence that companion animals, including pets, can spread COVID-19 to people or that they might be a source of infection in the United States," the CDC said in a release of findings.

To read more of the CDC's assessments regarding animals and COVID-19, click here.