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Startling Discovery Suggests 40% of Wild Deer in The US Have Had The Coronavirus
https://www.sciencealert.com ^ | 4 AUGUST 2021 | CARLY CASSELLA

Posted on 08/04/2021 11:39:07 AM PDT by Red Badger

The novel coronavirus appears to have somehow jumped from humans to wild deer in some parts of the United States.

In the northeast corner of the nation, a recent federal survey found neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 in 40 percent of all white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) that were sampled.

In the state of Michigan alone, 67 percent of free-ranging deer showed immune markers for the coronavirus in their bloodwork.

It's the first evidence of widespread exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in wild animals, and while the preprint study still needs to be verified and peer-reviewed, the findings are cause for concern.

While none of the deer showed adverse health effects, the presence of specific antibodies in their blood suggests they recently fought off the virus.

By silently harboring and spreading this pathogen, scientists worry deer populations are allowing SARS-CoV-2 to adapt and evolve into new strains – ones that could possibly re-infect humans years down the road with even greater transmissibility and severity than before.

After all, white-tailed deer in the US cross paths with our species a lot, whether it be from fieldwork, conservation work, feeding, hunting, or human wastewater, providing a perfect pathway for a virus to spread back and forth.

"The geographic distribution of this species encompasses most of North America and these animals are particularly abundant near urban population centers located in the eastern US," the authors write in their paper.

"Moreover, white-tailed deer can form social groups, a contact structure with the potential to support the intraspecies transmission of multiple pathogens."

Ever since the global pandemic first started, scientists have been worried about the novel coronavirus jumping from humans to another species of animal, known as zoonotic spillback.

Last year, for instance, an outbreak among farmed minks led to a massive cull of livestock in Europe and the United States. But unlike captive animals, infections among wild animals are not so easily controlled.

That's why scientists are so concerned by the recent findings. If SARS-CoV-2 can indeed find refuge in the wild, it could make eradication extremely difficult. If the virus adapts among another species and then reinfects humans, our vaccines might be far less effective in the future.

Recently, in Utah, a seemingly healthy wild mink tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, becoming the first free-ranging animal to pick up the virus. As scientists predicted, however, that was probably just the tip of the iceberg. Now, it seems apparent the virus has taken off among wild deer as well.

These free-ranging animals will need to be tested for viral RNA if we want to be absolutely sure that they are providing a reservoir for the novel coronavirus, but the presence of antibodies in their blood suggests they have somehow been exposed.

Previous studies in the laboratory have shown white-tailed deer are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, and that one infected individual of this species can infect another.

This new survey suggests a similar spread could be happening in the wild, although more research is needed to figure out how that's happening.

The team had access to 385 wild white-tailed deer serum samples from January to March 2021, as well as 239 archived samples from 2011 to 2020, which they tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

Before the onset of the pandemic in 2019, government researchers found no immune markers for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the bloodwork of wild deer. After the pandemic began, however, these antibodies began to pop up more and more.

In 2020, specific blood proteins for SARS-CoV-2 were found among three deer. Within the first three months of this year, however, nearly half of all 385 blood samples taken from deer in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New York showed the same neutralizing antibodies.

How these deer were exposed to the virus in the first place is still unclear. It could have jumped directly from humans, or it could have been passed from livestock or wild animals that came into contact with us and then onto white-tailed deer.

As such, officials in the US are calling for greater wildlife surveillance, especially among predators and scavengers that regularly interact with deer.

"If there is a common source of exposure for the deer, then likely the same source can expose other animals," virologist Arinjay Banerjee from the University of Saskatchewan, who wasn't involved with the study, told Nature.

SARS-CoV-2 may be spilling into the wild faster than we can mop it up.

The study was published in bioRxiv.


TOPICS: Agriculture; Health/Medicine; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: chinavirus; deer
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1 posted on 08/04/2021 11:39:07 AM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

Well, there goes huntin’ season......John Kerry............


2 posted on 08/04/2021 11:39:51 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

This will never end. They will keep making it up as they fearporn people.


3 posted on 08/04/2021 11:41:32 AM PDT by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: Red Badger

How do you socially distance in the woods ?


4 posted on 08/04/2021 11:42:13 AM PDT by Col Frank Slade
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To: Red Badger

And shockingly, 99% survived!


5 posted on 08/04/2021 11:42:14 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMVs. )
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To: Red Badger

The wild dear I come across seldom tell me if they have had, or have not had COVID.


6 posted on 08/04/2021 11:42:20 AM PDT by The_Media_never_lie (A world in which dogs write poetry is more believable than the world as seen through the Media)
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To: Red Badger

From eating bats?


7 posted on 08/04/2021 11:42:58 AM PDT by Huskrrrr (Alinsky, you magnificent Bastard, I read your book!)
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To: Red Badger

So that means 40% of the deers we thought were killed by hunters or hit by cars - really died of Covid19.


8 posted on 08/04/2021 11:43:15 AM PDT by enumerated
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To: Col Frank Slade

beat me to it


9 posted on 08/04/2021 11:43:39 AM PDT by Kevmo (Right now there are 600 political prisoners in Washington, DC.)
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To: Red Badger

This seems more the result of an erronous test (or a massive hoax) than anything that makes sense.


10 posted on 08/04/2021 11:45:37 AM PDT by Fido969 (45 is Superman!)
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To: Red Badger

If only they’d worn their snout masks...


11 posted on 08/04/2021 11:46:24 AM PDT by Restless
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To: Red Badger

Look, the corona “virus” has already jumped to fruits, vegetable, motor oil and much more.

Look at the bottle of ketchup in your fridge. It could probably test “positive” for the corona “virus,” too, especially if they amp up the number of cycles in the test.


12 posted on 08/04/2021 11:47:13 AM PDT by Jay W
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To: Red Badger

Did they use a nasal swab or an anal swab to test?


13 posted on 08/04/2021 11:47:26 AM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: Fido969

Color me skeptical, beyond skeptical actually.


14 posted on 08/04/2021 11:47:27 AM PDT by Bayan
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To: enumerated
So that means 40% of the deers we thought were killed by hunters or hit by cars - really died of Covid19.

LOL!

15 posted on 08/04/2021 11:47:48 AM PDT by Mr.FixIt (Ethanol: Growing in four months what the U.S.A. burns in one day)
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To: Red Badger

Thee must be deer bodies everywhere.


16 posted on 08/04/2021 11:48:35 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire. Or both.)
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To: shanover
This will never end. They will keep making it up as they fearporn people.

Agreed. I'd be more concerned about deer ticks in areas of high deer populations.

Or CWD (if you don't eat CNS tissue of deer, disregard! (haha).

17 posted on 08/04/2021 11:49:03 AM PDT by Fury
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To: Red Badger

My my. How fast Chronic Wasting disease in deer has been forgotten.


18 posted on 08/04/2021 11:50:59 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (30 days! FB jail for mentioning a Monty Python script about tranneys, and the 1936 Olympics.)
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To: Red Badger

Another sign that natural immunity is the best hope. Everyone is going to catch it eventually. The drug people should be working on a treatment, not a vaccine.

I know, not as lucrative...


19 posted on 08/04/2021 11:51:19 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods ( comment might be sarcasm, or not. It depends. Often I'm not sure either.)
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To: Red Badger

They better mask up.


20 posted on 08/04/2021 11:52:12 AM PDT by 1Old Pro (Let's make crime illegal again!)
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