Posted on 11/06/2021 8:28:37 PM PDT by lightman
Steve Mohr, a longtime Lancaster County sportsman, recalled taking a call earlier this season — a fellow hunter was on the line, concerned about recent reports that white-tailed deer had tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
“He wanted to know what to do,” Mohr said Thursday, explaining the hunter was unsure if he should go out and attempt to bag a buck this year.
The story, Mohr said, illustrates the confusion that exists in the county's hunting community following recent news that a favorite local game species may carry the virus.
“Right now the hunters are having the time of their lives. They wait for this period of time to come up every year,” Mohr said, describing excitement for the state’s hunting seasons. “They don’t want to be worried about outside influence.”
But by now, many of them likely have seen the results of a recent Penn State study of deer in Iowa. According to the study, it’s likely that humans are spreading the virus, Sars-CoV-2, to wild deer before it’s then spread from animal to animal.
It’s not clear how the virus would spread from humans to deer, but the results are worrisome, according to one of the study’s leaders Suresh Kuchipudi, associate director of Penn State University's Animal Diagnostic Lab and professor of virology.
That’s because there is a chance that transmission among deer could cause the virus to mutate, potentially into a vaccine-resistant variant that could be spread back to humans, Kuchipudi said.
“That is the biggest concern,” he said, adding that virus mutations are much harder to track in wild animals than they are in sick humans who seek out care at institutions where experts can monitor symptoms and take samples for analysis. “We have no idea about what’s happening in the deer.”
However, he stressed there is currently no evidence that deer are able to transmit the virus back to humans. How the study was conducted
In studying the coronavirus’ transmission in the animals, Kuchipudi said he and a number of colleagues examined samples taken from about 300 deer in Iowa, where researchers had existing relationships with wildlife officials.
The samples were taken from a combination of deer that had been killed in traffic crashes and those harvested by hunters from April 2020 to January 2021, he said. About a third of those samples showed signs of SARS-CoV-2.
Because of their biological makeup, it had previously been believed that the deer would likely be susceptible to the virus and capable of transmission — a hunch that was later confirmed in controlled lab-based studies, according to Kuchipudi.
But prior to the Iowa study, it was unclear if that also was true in the wild.
“Our study showed for the first time that white-tailed deer in the natural setting are getting infected,” he said, explaining that he believes the virus had previously only been detected in captive animals.
And through further analysis, researchers said they were able to scrutinize the positive samples to learn that virus strains found in the deer matched those infecting humans at the same time in Iowa, signalling a likelihood that people transmitted the illness to the animals.
“The fact that we found several different SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating within geographically confined herds across the state suggests the occurrence of multiple independent spillover events from humans to deer, followed by local deer-to-deer transmission,” reads a statement by Vivek Kapur, professor of microbiology and infectious diseases, published by Penn State.
“This also raises the possibility of the spillback from deer back to humans, especially in exurban areas with high deer densities,” Kapur continued.
On Thursday, Kuchipudi also spoke about that possibility — humans potentially catching the coronavirus from infected deer.
“Theoretically, it can happen,” he said. “We just don’t have evidence that it’s happened thus far.”
If anything is certain, Kuchipudi said it’s the growing need for people to get vaccinated and to follow other health guidelines in an effort to curb the virus’s spread before it has a chance to mutate to a potentially more dangerous or vaccine-resistant strain.
“We have, in a way, a window of opportunity to stop it,” he said.
Recommendations for hunters
It’s expected that deer sampled in other states would show similar results, and there is potential that other animals, including rodents such as mice, could also be susceptible, Kuchipudi said.
Back in August, officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that an analysis of sampled deer had turned up results for Sars-CoV-2 antibodies in multiple states, including Pennsylvania.
“Antibodies are the result of an immune response to infection with a pathogen, and their presence does not necessarily suggest a current infection,” officials said, explaining the results.
Still, USDA officials issued a set of recommendations for hunters, urging them to keep pets and hunting dogs away from wildlife, to avoid harvesting animals that appear sick and to wear disposable gloves when processing animals.
That’s in addition to thoroughly cleaning equipment and surfaces that come in contact with game meat and cooking the meat to a temperature of 165 degrees, among other recommendations.
“There is no evidence that people can get COVID-19 by preparing or eating meat from an animal infected with SARS-CoV-2, including wild game meat hunted in the United States,” officials said. “However, hunters can get infected with many other diseases when processing or eating game.”
Officials at the Pennsylvania Game Commission also issued a news release, assuring hunters that no evidence exists to show that deer can spread the virus to humans.
“There’s nothing to suggest deer hunters or other Pennsylvanians are at risk of contracting COVID from exposure to deer,” Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans said in a statement. “By taking ordinary precautions when hunting and handling deer, hunters help to reduce any disease risk.”
No rule changes for captive deer farms
In Pennsylvania, a total of 435,180 deer were harvested in the 2020-21 season. A Game Commission spokesman did not answer a request for estimated, statewide white-tail deer population numbers.
The state also permits captive deer farms, including several dozen in Lancaster County, which are regulated by the state Department of Agriculture. On Thursday, a department spokeswoman said officials are aware of the Penn State report, and applaud researchers for the study.
Currently, it has not influenced department rules or regulations, she said.
“There are no new regulations for deer farmers tied to COVID-19. Based on the available information to date, the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be low,” she said. “There continues to be no evidence that animals, including deer, are playing a significant role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to people. Further studies are needed to better understand the exact method by which human to-deer transmission is occurring, but this study further illustrates that human and animal health are inextricably linked.” Archery season underway
This year, archery season is already underway, and Troy Bair, a local deer processor, said Thursday that more than 300 animals had already been brought to his shop, Bair's Deer Processing, in West Donegal Township.
So far, Bair said he hasn’t interacted with a single hunter who’s mentioned anything about deer possibly infected with the coronavirus.
“I have not heard about it from anybody, to be honest with you. I’m a little skeptical about it.
I’d really need to see some real evidence,” he said, expecting hunting season to continue as usual. “I really don’t see anything changing here at all. I anticipate a busy year.”
In northwestern Lancaster County, Mohr, a Conoy Township supervisor and former member of the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners, remained skeptical, too.
“It’s sort of like politics because if you don’t have the time to dig into it, you only know what's being told to you,” he said, guessing the issue won’t discourage hunters from killing deer.
“Why would you try to ruin somebody's fun by even mentioning COVID at this time,” Mohr said. “I would tell hunters to have a great time, don't worry about things you can’t control. Go out, have fun and most of all come home safe.”
I only kissed one deer this year.
“Yeah, “humans” spread covid to “deer”. Sure.”
Yep, and Covid is hanging up in the trees waiting to drop on you if you don’t wear your mask.
ping
My Grandfather was a Game Warden in this area from the late 30’s to 1954 and there were NEVER any coyotes in the area...
I've hunted and trapped in the same area for the last 60 yrs and there were NO coyotes here until AFTER that 1st stocking in the early 70s....
and I can say the same for Wild Turkeys and Pheasants as well ..but that's another story ...
I saw half a dozen dead deer yesterday, clearly victims of Covid. Something about the virus causes deer to seek out the shoulder of an interstate freeway to lie down and breathe their last.
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