COVID-19 infection detected in deer in six Ohio locations
Scientists unsure if wild deer could be SARS-CoV-2 virus reservoir
Date:
December 23, 2021
Source:
Ohio State University
Summary:
Scientists have detected infection by at least three variants of
the virus that causes COVID-19 in free-ranging white-tailed deer
in six northeast Ohio locations, the research team has reported.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Scientists have detected infection by at least three variants of the
virus that causes COVID-19 in free-ranging white-tailed deer in six
northeast Ohio locations, the research team has reported.
========================================================================== Previous research led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture had shown
evidence of antibodies in wild deer. This study, published today (Dec. 23, 2021) in Nature, details the first report of active COVID-19 infection in white-tailed deer supported by the growth of viral isolates in the lab, indicating researchers had recovered viable samples of the SARS-CoV-2
virus and not only its genetic traces.
Based on genomic sequencing of the samples collected between January
and March 2021, researchers determined that variants infecting wild
deer matched strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that had been prevalent in
Ohio COVID-19 patients at the time. Sample collection occurred before
the Delta variant was widespread, and that variant was not detected in
these deer. The team is testing more samples to check for new variants
as well as older variants, whose continued presence would suggest the
virus can set up shop and survive in this species.
The fact that wild deer can become infected "leads toward the idea that
we might actually have established a new maintenance host outside humans,"
said Andrew Bowman, associate professor of veterinary preventive medicine
at The Ohio State University and senior author of the paper.
"Based on evidence from other studies, we knew they were being exposed
in the wild and that in the lab we could infect them and the virus
could transmit from deer to deer. Here, we're saying that in the wild,
they are infected," Bowman said. "And if they can maintain it, we have
a new potential source of SARS-CoV- 2 coming in to humans. That would
mean that beyond tracking what's in people, we'll need to know what's
in the deer, too.
"It could complicate future mitigation and control plans for COVID-19."
A lot of unknowns remain: how the deer got infected, whether they can
infect humans and other species, how the virus behaves in the animals'
body, and whether it's a transient or long-term infection.
==========================================================================
The research team took nasal swabs from 360 white-tailed deer in nine
northeast Ohio locations. Using PCR testing methods, the scientists
detected genetic material from at least three different strains of the
virus in 129 (35.8%) of the deer sampled.
The analysis showed that B.1.2 viruses dominant in Ohio in the early
months of 2021 spilled over multiple times into deer populations in
different locations.
"The working theory based on our sequences is that humans are giving
it to deer, and apparently we gave it to them several times," Bowman
said. "We have evidence of six different viral introductions into those
deer populations. It's not that a single population got it once and
it spread." Each site was sampled between one and three times, adding
up to a total of 18 sample collection dates. Based on the findings,
researchers estimated the prevalence of infection varied from 13.5%
to 70% across the nine sites, with the highest prevalence observed in
four sites that were surrounded by more densely populated neighborhoods.
White-tailed deer functioning as a viral reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 would
likely result in one of two outcomes, Bowman said. The virus could
mutate in deer, potentially facilitating transmission of new strains
to other species, including humans, or the virus could survive in deer unmutated while it simultaneously continues to evolve in humans, and at
some point when humans don't have immunity to the strains infecting deer,
those variants could come spilling back to humans.
==========================================================================
How transmission happened initially in these deer, and how it could
happen across species, are among the pending questions related to
these findings. The research team speculated that white-tailed deer
were infected through an environmental pathway -- possibly by drinking contaminated water. Research has shown that the virus is shed in human
stool and detectable in wastewater.
The white-tailed deer tested for this study were part of a population
control initiative, so they are not a transmission threat.
Though there are an estimated 600,000 white-tailed deer in Ohio and
30 million in the United States, Bowman said this sampling focused on
locations close to dense human populations and is not representative of
all free-ranging deer.
This work was supported by the Ohio State Infectious Diseases Institute
and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In
addition to USDA, NIAID, Ohio Wildlife Center and Cleveland Metroparks contributors, Ohio State co-authors include Vanessa Hale, Patricia Dennis, Dillon McBride, Jacqueline Nolting, Christopher Madden, Devra Huey,
Margot Ehrlich, Jenessa Winston, Dubraska Diaz-Campos, Page Yaxley,
Alexis McLaine, Risa Pesapane, Mark Flint, Jaylene Flint, Anastasia
Vlasova, Scott Kenney, Qiuhong Wang, Linda Saif and Seth Faith.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Ohio_State_University. Original
written by Emily Caldwell. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Vanessa L. Hale, Patricia M. Dennis, Dillon S. McBride, Jaqueline M.
Nolting, Christopher Madden, Devra Huey, Margot Ehrlich, Jennifer
Grieser, Jenessa Winston, Dusty Lombardi, Stormy Gibson, Linda
Saif, Mary L. Killian, Kristina Lantz, Rachel Tell, Mia Torchetti,
Suelee Robbe- Austerman, Martha I. Nelson, Seth A. Faith, Andrew
S. Bowman. SARS-CoV- 2 infection in free-ranging white-tailed
deer. Nature, Dec. 23, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04353-x ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211223113202.htm
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