Even when there is no global pandemic, veterinarians are on the front lines in protecting human health, especially when it comes to zoonotic diseases, that is, infections that can cross between people and animals.
The expertise of faculty at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine positioned them to assist in the rapid identification of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans, as the cause of a respiratory illness affecting big cats at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo. (Fortunately, the affected animals appear to be recovering from the illness.) Link