Deer may be reservoir for SARS-Cov-2 variants, study suggestsFebruary 6, 2023The evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from humans to white-tailed deer, and its transmission ability in the deer population is the driving force behind the study conducted by the Cornell Veterinary Medicine (CVM). The study, "White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) May Serve as a Wildlife Reservoir for Nearly Extinct SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, looks into the role of the white-tailed deer in the epidemiology and ecology of the virus. The study focused on the deer population in New York. "One of the most striking findings of this study was the detection of co-circulation of three variants of concern–alpha, gamma and delta–in this wild animal population," says Diego Diel, DVM, MS, PhD, associate professor of population medicine and diagnostic sciences and director of the Virology Laboratory at the Cornell University CVM Animal Health Diagnostic Center. While the exact cause remains unknown, research indicates that over the course of the pandemic, deer have become infected with SARS-CoV-2 through contact with humans, possibly from hunting, wildlife rehabilitations, feeding of wild animals or through wastewater or water sources. This study was made possible …
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