COULD COVID-19 be about to leap another species barrier?
Officials in India are somewhat concerned after a troop of aggressive monkeys attacked a lab technician carrying test samples in the country's Uttar Pradesh region.
The fresh samples had just been taken from three patients suspected of being infected with coronavirus, with the primates later spotted high in a nearby tree chewing on the test kits.
Locals are now concerned that the mischievous monkeys may now become another potential source of infection.
Several cases of human-to-animal COVID-19 infections have been recorded, including pet dogs and cats who have contracted the disease from their owners, as well as a tiger in a New York zoo who got it from one of its keepers.
And while we're on the subject, authorities in Gibraltar have banned tourists from touching the enclave's famous Barbary monkeys in hopes of protecting the primates from COVID-19.
The macaques are Europe's only wild population of monkeys, and low levels of coronavirus in the Gibraltar public mean it is "virtually definite" the animals are OK.
However a strict new bill will "make touching or other interference with the natural behaviour of macaques an offence except under licence for management, research or veterinary purposes".
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