July 12 (UPI) — A groundbreaking study has discovered cases of COVID-19 being transmitted between deer and humans multiple times.
The study, published in the esteemed scientific journal Nature, uncovers mutated variants of COVID-19 spreading from deer to humans after initial transmission from humans to deer.
During the period between November 2021 and April 2022, researchers collected 8,830 respiratory samples from free-ranging white-tailed deer across 26 states and Washington D.C. Out of these samples, 282 deer tested positive for COVID-19.
With a team including scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Agriculture, the study revealed that at least 109 cases involved humans spreading the virus to the deer population.
Furthermore, the study documented 39 cases of deer-to-deer transmission and, remarkably, three cases of deer-to-human transmission.
Although the infected individuals were identified, none of them reported any contact with deer before contracting the virus.
The study emphasizes that white-tailed deer are prevalent in both urban and rural areas of the United States, with an estimated population of 30 million. It concludes that frequent introductions of new human viruses into white-tailed deer continue to transpire.
While variants like Alpha, Gamma, and Delta were no longer circulating among humans as of February, the study found that these variants persisted and spread in the white-tailed deer population.
Researchers argue that even after human cases of the variants become rare, other viruses can persist in the deer population. Therefore, they call for extensive surveillance of white-tailed deer to determine if they could serve as potential reservoirs for COVID-19 and understand their role in the virus ecology.
In a separate study released on the same day, scientists unveiled a novel all-species test capable of detecting the COVID-19 virus in any animal.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, has been identified in various animals, including cats, dogs, rodents, deer, and apes. This test, supported by research and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, will aid scientists in monitoring animal populations and preventing future viral outbreaks.
