(ANSA) - NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 09 - White-tailed deer in Staten Island (New York) have been infected with the Omicron variant of the covid.
The New York Times reports that it is the first time that the variant has been reported in wild animals.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that white-tailed deer are easily infected with the virus, and these findings are likely to intensify concerns that these animals, which are widespread in the United States and often close to humans. humans, can become a potential source of new variants.
Researchers previously reported that the covid had spread to Iowa deer in late 2020 and parts of Ohio in early 2021. The US Department of Agriculture confirmed infections in deer in ;; 13 more states - Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia - as explained Lyndsay Cole, spokesperson for the agency's health inspection service, stating that the animals were infected with previous variants of the virus.
Research suggests that deer become infected with humans and then spread the virus to other deer, but there is no evidence that they pass it on to people.
However,
the widespread and long-term circulation of covid in deer would give the virus greater opportunities to mutate, with a potential origin of new variants that could spread to humans or other animal species.
"The circulation of the virus in deer offers opportunities to adapt and evolve," said Vivek Kapur, a veterinary microbiologist at Penn State University who is part of the Staten Island research team.
(HANDLE).