tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Emerg Infect Dis
. 2024 Aug;30(8):1609-1620.
doi: 10.3201/eid3008.231056.
SARS-CoV-2 Seropositivity in Urban Population of Wild Fallow Deer, Dublin, Ireland, 2020-2022
Kevin Purves, Hannah Brown, Ruth Haverty, Andrew Ryan, Laura L Griffin, Janet McCormack, Sophie O'Reilly, Patrick W Mallon, Virginie Gautier, Joseph P Cassidy, Aurelie Fabre, Michael J Carr, Gabriel Gonzalez, Simone Ciuti, Nicola F Fletcher
SARS-CoV-2 can infect wildlife, and SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern might expand into novel animal reservoirs, potentially by reverse zoonosis. White-tailed deer and mule deer of North America are the only deer species in which SARS-CoV-2 has been documented, raising the question of whether other reservoir species exist. We report cases of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in a fallow deer population located in Dublin, Ireland. Sampled deer were seronegative in 2020 when the Alpha variant was circulating in humans, 1 deer was seropositive for the Delta variant in 2021, and 12/21 (57%) sampled deer were seropositive for the Omicron variant in 2022, suggesting host tropism expansion as new variants emerged in humans. Omicron BA.1 was capable of infecting fallow deer lung type-2 pneumocytes and type-1-like pneumocytes or endothelial cells ex vivo. Ongoing surveillance to identify novel SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs is needed to prevent public health risks during human-animal interactions in periurban settings.
Keywords: COVID-19; Dublin; Ireland; SARS; SARS-CoV-2; cervid; coronavirus; coronavirus disease; deer; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viruses; wildlife reservoir; zoonoses.
. 2024 Aug;30(8):1609-1620.
doi: 10.3201/eid3008.231056.
SARS-CoV-2 Seropositivity in Urban Population of Wild Fallow Deer, Dublin, Ireland, 2020-2022
Kevin Purves, Hannah Brown, Ruth Haverty, Andrew Ryan, Laura L Griffin, Janet McCormack, Sophie O'Reilly, Patrick W Mallon, Virginie Gautier, Joseph P Cassidy, Aurelie Fabre, Michael J Carr, Gabriel Gonzalez, Simone Ciuti, Nicola F Fletcher
- PMID: 39043403
- DOI: 10.3201/eid3008.231056
SARS-CoV-2 can infect wildlife, and SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern might expand into novel animal reservoirs, potentially by reverse zoonosis. White-tailed deer and mule deer of North America are the only deer species in which SARS-CoV-2 has been documented, raising the question of whether other reservoir species exist. We report cases of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in a fallow deer population located in Dublin, Ireland. Sampled deer were seronegative in 2020 when the Alpha variant was circulating in humans, 1 deer was seropositive for the Delta variant in 2021, and 12/21 (57%) sampled deer were seropositive for the Omicron variant in 2022, suggesting host tropism expansion as new variants emerged in humans. Omicron BA.1 was capable of infecting fallow deer lung type-2 pneumocytes and type-1-like pneumocytes or endothelial cells ex vivo. Ongoing surveillance to identify novel SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs is needed to prevent public health risks during human-animal interactions in periurban settings.
Keywords: COVID-19; Dublin; Ireland; SARS; SARS-CoV-2; cervid; coronavirus; coronavirus disease; deer; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viruses; wildlife reservoir; zoonoses.