Gorilla In San Diego Receives Monoclonal Antibody Therapy For COVID-19 Treatment

Illustration. (Amy Reed / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - A gorilla at the San Diego Zoo, California, United States is undergoing monoclonal antibody therapy after being confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 this month.

Reported by VOI from NRP, the gorilla is named Winston and is known to be positive for COVID-19 after experiencing several symptoms, such as a mild cough.

The veterinarian's staff became concerned about Winston's condition, as the mammal was known to have heart disease.

Furthermore, zoo staff consulted with specialists before treating Winston with heart drugs, antibiotics and monoclonal antibody therapy.

Gorilla illustration. (Adam Soukup / Unsplash)

However, the monoclonal antibody treatment administered to Winston is not licensed for human use.

Monoclonal antibody treatment is a synthetic version of the body's natural immune treatment. This method is considered effective in reducing the effects of the virus

In addition, the team of veterinarians who treated Winston believed the method contributed to the immune's ability to fight the virus.

Then, veterinary staff also get a special vaccine to protect animals from the corona virus. These protein vaccines are different from those used by humans because they have been purified and recombinant.

In addition to Winston, San Diego zoo staff members have begun to identify potential animals that will receive the vaccine.

It is known that as many as eight gorillas in the zoo are now in good health, able to eat, drink and interact socially.

Even though the gorillas are heading for full recovery the teams are still working with wildlife care specialists, health professionals and scientific researchers to treat the animals.

Now Winston's case has become learning material to help wildlife in treating COVID-19. Hopefully, this case can be continued by more than 200 zoos around the world.