COVID-19: "Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 40% of wild white-tailed deer sampled from four U.S. states in 2021."
That's the headline finding in "SARS-CoV-2 exposure in wild white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus):
Abstract: Widespread human SARS-CoV-2 infections combined with human-wildlife interactions create the potential for reverse zoonosis from humans to wildlife. We targeted white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) for serosurveillance based on evidence these deer have ACE2 receptors with high affinity for SARS-CoV-2, are permissive to infection, exhibit sustained viral shedding, can transmit to conspecifics, and can be abundant near urban centers. We evaluated 624 pre- and post-pandemic serum samples from wild deer from four U.S. states for SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Antibodies were detected in 152 samples (40%) from 2021 using a surrogate virus neutralization test. A subset of samples was tested using a SARS-CoV-2 virus neutralization test with high concordance between tests. These data suggest white-tailed deer in the populations assessed have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2.
One-Sentence Summary: Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 40% of wild white-tailed deer sampled from four U.S. states in 2021.
There's some evidence that deer are not themselves symptomatically ill on account of the coronavirus. That itself may not give much human comfort.
My immediate thoughts are:
- This means that there's a strong potential for a pervasive animal reservoir of SARS-COV-2 in North America, even if the virus is eradicated amongst the human population. (Itself apparently no certainty.)
- Ongoing mutation and evolution are likely within that reservoir population.
- If SARS-COV-2 can spread throughout North American wildlife populations, it can most likely survive in wildlife populations elsewhere. (The fact that it's widely believed to have originated amongst some animal population only lends more credence to this possibility.)
This is not especially surprising news. Though it's most definitely not good.
HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28030368
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.29.454326v1.full
#covid19 #deer #AnimalReservoirs #viruses #epidemiology #SarsCov2
