China Daily Network, August 10 (Gao Linlin) The British "Nature" website published an article on August 2 that the white-tailed deer is a relatively common wild animal in the United States, and studies have shown that one-third of the white-tailed deer in the northeast of the United States have antibodies to the new crown virus, which indicates that they have been infected with the new crown virus.
Screenshot of the uk's nature magazine website
Arinjay Banerjee, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, noted that the findings were made by analysing samples collected after the COVID-19 pandemic, the first time extensive exposure to the virus has been observed in wildlife populations.
The study was published online in preprint on July 29, but the study has not yet been peer-reviewed.
The researchers said the rapid exposure of large numbers of animals to the virus is worrying, but further research is needed to assess whether the coronavirus will spread in wild populations of deer, or occur between species. "It's an interesting observation, but it still needs to be interpreted with caution." Aaron Irving, an infectious disease researcher at Zhejiang University in China, said.
Linda Saif, a virologist at Ohio State University at Worcester, pointed out that the key question for the study is "how the virus spreads to deer, and whether the virus will spread from infected deer to other wild animals or domestic animals such as cattle."
The white-tailed deer is a very common wild animal in North America, especially near urban centers in the eastern United States. Previous laboratory studies have shown that deer can contract the new coronavirus and spread the virus to other deer. In the wild, these deer live in groups, that is, the virus can be transmitted naturally in infected animals.
Researchers worry about new animal "hosts" that will emerge because, once they do, new viruses can evolve there, potentially threatening vaccine efficacy and possibly re-spreading to humans after the coronavirus pandemic subsides. Just like Ebola, it comes back and forth.
To assess this risk, Susan Shriner of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and her colleagues tested 385 white-tailed deer blood samples collected from January to March 2021 in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New York. They were surprised to find that 40 percent of the samples contained antibodies to the new coronavirus, which were produced in response to an infection. It is worth mentioning that all the white-tailed deer tested showed no signs of illness.
A USDA spokesperson said: "Given the percentage of antibodies to the new coronavirus detectable in the study, as well as the wide distribution of white-tailed deer in the United States and close contact with humans, it is likely that white-tailed deer in other U.S. states have also been infected with the new coronavirus." ”
"The data strongly suggests that white-tailed deer were infected with COVID-19 at some point in time." But the researchers didn't test the animals for viral ribonucleic acid (RNA), which is needed to determine if they are the animal host, Banaji said.
He also pointed out that the real mystery is exactly how white-tailed deer contracted the new crown virus, possibly through contact with humans, contact with other animals, and even through contaminated water sources.
The researchers caution that the results suggest that it is necessary to investigate and test white-tailed deer, their predators, and other animals that have been in close contact with white-tailed deer.
Source: China Daily