Canadian researchers believe they have found the first case of deer transmitting the coronavirus to humans, warning that wider surveillance of wildlife is needed to prevent further mutations from developing and spreading undetected.
on paper Published last week, but not yet reviewed, scientists say at least one case of Covid-19 in humans can be traced back to a strain of the virus found in deer being hunted.
Biologists previously found groups of white-tailed deer infected with Covid in the northeastern United States, as well as central counties Canada. Although deer are not usually seen as a species that can easily transmit the virus to humans, experts speculate that transmission is possible.
As part of their study, Canadian scientists sampled hundreds of white deer that were hunted last fall in southwest Ontario. After taking a nasal swab and testing the lymph nodes of the deer, they found that 17 of the 298 deer tested positive for a “very different new strain” of the coronavirus.
This virus is somewhat similar to the strain currently circulating in humans. In contrast, the gene closest to the dynasty comes from Samples taken from humans and from you in Michigan two years ago, chirp Finley Maguire, professor at Dalhousie University and co-author of the paper.
The researchers then compared the genetic makeup of the coronavirus found in deer with cases of the virus found in humans in the area.
The team found a resident who had a very similar strain of the virus and had contact with deer. While the authors say limited sample data make it difficult to fully understand genetic relationships between breeds, the timing and site of infection suggest that deer are a possible source.
Scientists aren’t sure how the deer initially infected the virus, but further study of the variant prevalent in the population showed that its massive structure meant that the escape of the inoculum – the ability of the virus to pass through a vaccine – was impossible.
“It’s reassuring that we haven’t found evidence of further transmission, as long as we did a lot of sampling and multiple sequencing,” Samira Mubarak, a microbiologist and clinical scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, told CBC News. . “If we continue to do this monitoring, we will get a much better picture of the true risk.”
Experts have long feared that viruses could infect and then mutate within certain animals, known as reservoir species.
After reviewing the genetic sequence of the virus, Public Health Canada said there was no indication that the virus had spread to humans and it may have been an “isolated case”.
“Until we know more, people who hunt, hunt, cooperate with or handle wildlife should take precautions to prevent the potential spread of the virus,” the agency said on its website.
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