Shiloh
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Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsa...ovid-among-deer-heres-what-it-means-for-human
Researcher finds 'stunning' rate of COVID among deer. Here's what it means for humans
March 9, 202210:31 AM ET
Ari Daniel
Between October and December of last year, researchers swabbed the noses of 93 dead deer from across Pennsylvania. Nearly a fifth of the animals tested positive for COVID.
This is one result from a new pair of soon-to-be-published studies with the latest evidence for COVID spillover from humans into wild white-tailed deer where the virus picked up a raft of new mutations. In addition, in one case, COVID most likely later spilled back from the deer into a human. That's a first.
These new findings — which follow an earlier study about COVID in the white-tailed deer population — are raising renewed concerns over the unpredictability of spillover events and the potential risks posed to humans. Here are a few questions being asked about the deer spillovers.
Did the Pennsylvania deer die from COVID?
No. "These are deer that died with COVID," says Andrew Marques, a microbiology Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "These aren't deer that died from COVID." Rather, they'd been hunted or struck by oncoming traffic. But an almost 20% COVID positivity rate is, according to Marques, lead author on the Pennsylvania findings still out for review, "absolutely stunning when we consider the positivity rate in humans," which is much lower. In Philadelphia, for instance, the positivity test rate is currently hovering around 3%...
Researcher finds 'stunning' rate of COVID among deer. Here's what it means for humans
March 9, 202210:31 AM ET
Ari Daniel
Between October and December of last year, researchers swabbed the noses of 93 dead deer from across Pennsylvania. Nearly a fifth of the animals tested positive for COVID.
This is one result from a new pair of soon-to-be-published studies with the latest evidence for COVID spillover from humans into wild white-tailed deer where the virus picked up a raft of new mutations. In addition, in one case, COVID most likely later spilled back from the deer into a human. That's a first.
These new findings — which follow an earlier study about COVID in the white-tailed deer population — are raising renewed concerns over the unpredictability of spillover events and the potential risks posed to humans. Here are a few questions being asked about the deer spillovers.
Did the Pennsylvania deer die from COVID?
No. "These are deer that died with COVID," says Andrew Marques, a microbiology Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "These aren't deer that died from COVID." Rather, they'd been hunted or struck by oncoming traffic. But an almost 20% COVID positivity rate is, according to Marques, lead author on the Pennsylvania findings still out for review, "absolutely stunning when we consider the positivity rate in humans," which is much lower. In Philadelphia, for instance, the positivity test rate is currently hovering around 3%...
