Web MD reported that 80% of white-tailed deer in Iowa may be infected with COVID-19. Scientists are worried that the animals could become a reservoir for variants that could come back to haunt humans. In the new study, samples were collected lymph node samples from hundreds of dead deer across the state from April 2020 through January 2021. The researchers believe it’s likely that the virus is rapidly spreading among the deer, The New York Times reported.
There’s no evidence yet of deer-to-human infection, but the Penn State University authors and Iowa wildlife officials are warning deer hunters and others who have contact with deer to take precautions. The veterinary microbiologists who led the study, which has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, said they were shocked to find such widespread infection in deer. Hunters in Iowa are being advised to wear masks and gloves and thoroughly cooking the meat, the risk of exposure can be minimized,” she wrote in an email to the Des Moines Register. “To date, there have been no cases of contracting COVID-19 from eating food, including hunted wild meat.”
“Our results suggest that deer have the potential to emerge as a major reservoir host” for the coronavirus, the study says. “If deer can transmit the virus to humans, it’s a game-changer,” Tony Goldberg, a University of Wisconsin-Madison veterinarian who studies the evolution of infectious diseases as they move between animals and people, told the Times.
The paper, which has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, has been posted online. The findings were verified on Tuesday by federal scientists at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, according to a spokesperson who spoke to the New York Times.
In the case of farmed mink, Denmark slaughtered its entire population of 17 million farmed mink after scientists discovered they could pass the virus back to people. The virus had also picked up mutations after infecting the mink. If this turns out to be true of deer in America, then all hell could break loose this hunting season.