German and Austrian deer thus far spared SARS-CoV-2 infections, unlike
in North America

Date:
March 31, 2022
Source:
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)
Summary:
In North America, SARS-CoV-2 has spread from humans to white-tailed
deer.

The deer are now considered SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs and may even
spill virus back to humans. Scientists have now shown that in
Germany and Austria this has not happened as all deer tested were
negative for SARS- CoV-2 antibodies.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In North America, SARS-CoV-2 has spread from humans to white-tailed
deer. The deer are now considered SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs and may even spill virus back to humans. A science team headed by the Leibniz Institute for
Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the Charite' have now shown
that in Germany and Austria this has not happened as all deer tested
were negative for SARS-CoV- 2 antibodies. The research is reported in
the journal Microorganisms in a special issue on Viruses of Wild Mammals.


========================================================================== SARS-CoV-2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2)
is a virus identified in 2020 as the causative agent of COVID-19
disease. White-tailed deer in North America have been shown to be infected
with human derived SARS- CoV-2 variants at very high prevalence in many
cases. There is preliminary evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can then spill back
to humans from deer. This is a cause of concern as novel variants could
evolve in their new deer host and eventually spill back to humans, with unforeseeable consequences. While white- tailed deer are a North American species, deer occur worldwide and in central Europe like North America,
are heavily hunted and managed.

A team of scientists from the German Leibniz-IZW, the Institute of
Virology of the Charite', the Austrian Research Institute of Wildlife
Ecology (FIWI) and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
(BfR) examined sera from 433 roe, red and fallow deer, both pre-pandemic
and pandemic collected for SARS- CoV-2 antibodies using an assay that previously confirmed antibody titres in North American deer. None of
the deer from Germany or Austria were positive.

The team also compared the ACE2 gene, the cellular receptor of hosts
for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, among the different deer species. With the
exception of one change which might potentially make red deer somewhat
more resistant to infection, no changes were found in the receptor in
the European species that could account for the drastic difference in
results between central European and North American deer exposure.

A likely explanation for the differences in exposure are how deer are distributed and managed in North America and central Europe. In North
America, deer are often peri-urban and urban with high potential levels
of contact with humans and human waste. Deer are managed principally by
the federal government.

In Germany and Austria, deer are generally not peri-urban or present in
urban settings and an allocation of hunting licenses for a specific area
(the "Revier") is predominant where deer in a specific area are locally managed. The Revier structure likely prevents human-deer contact and
also hinders the spread of pathogens among deer populations.

"Every effort should be made to maintain barriers to human-deer contact
in central Europe to prevent the establishment of deer as a SARS-CoV-2 reservoir," says Prof Alex D Greenwood, Head of the Department of Wildlife Diseases at the Leibniz IZW.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Leibniz_Institute_for_Zoo_and_Wildlife_Research_(IZW).

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Andres Moreira-Soto, Christian Walzer, Ga'bor A'. Czirja'k,
Martin H.

Richter, Stephen F. Marino, Annika Posautz, Pau De Yebra Rodo,
Gayle K.

McEwen, Jan Felix Drexler, Alex D. Greenwood. Serological Evidence
That SARS-CoV-2 Has Not Emerged in Deer in Germany or Austria
during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Microorganisms, 2022; 10 (4): 748 DOI:
10.3390/ microorganisms10040748 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220331151549.htm

--- up 4 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours, 51 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)