The United States reports the world’s first deer with COVID-19

CHICAGO, Aug. 27 (Reuters) – The U.S. government said Friday it had confirmed the world’s first cases of COVID-19 in deer, expanding the list of animals that have tested positive for the disease.

According to a statement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in wild white-tailed deer in the state of Ohio. Deer were not reported to show symptoms of infection, according to the USDA.

“We don’t know how the deer were exposed to SARS-CoV-2,” USDA spokeswoman Lyndsay Cole wrote in an email to Reuters. “They may have been exposed through people, the environment, other deer or another animal species.”

The USDA has previously reported COVID-19 in animals such as dogs, cats, tigers, lions, snow leopards, otters, gorillas, and minks.

Worldwide, most animal infections were reported in species that had close contact with a person with COVID-19, according to the agency.

The USDA reported last month that white-tailed deer populations in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania were exposed to SARS-CoV-2, based on a study of free-range deer serum samples. detect antibodies against the disease.

Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine collected samples of infected deer in Ohio from January to March as part of ongoing studies, the USDA said. Samples were assumed to be positive for COVID-19 in college tests and the cases were confirmed at the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories, according to the statement.

Report by Tom Polansek Edited by Marguerita Choy

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