SARS-CoV-2 infection in free-ranging white-tailed deer.

ABSTRACT: Humans have infected a wide range of animals with SARS-CoV-2^1-5, but the establishment of a new natural animal reservoir has not been observed. Here we document that free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are highly susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, are exposed to multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants from humans and are capable of sustaining transmission in nature. Using real-time PCR with reverse transcription, we detected SARS-CoV-2 in more than one-third (129 out of 360, 35.8%) of nasal swabs obtained from O. virginianus in northeast Ohio in the USA during January to March 2021. Deer in six locations were infected with three SARS-CoV-2 lineages (B.1.2, B.1.582 and B.1.596). The B.1.2 viruses, dominant in humans in Ohio at the time, infected deer in four locat

SUBMITTER: Hale VL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8857059 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature