The virus that causes COVID-19 has spread to Virginia wildlife, and Virginia Tech researchers say well-populated spaces are likely where it spreads from humans to animals.
While SARS-CoV-2 infections had been known in wildlife in the past, primarily in white-tailed deer and wild mink, the Virginia Tech researchers set out to see if the virus had spread to non-unusual wildlife.
Researcher Carla Finkielstein, who is also director of Virginia Tech’s Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, said it is to track the spread of the virus.
“The more vaccinated we are, the greater the chances that the virus will seek out a new host,” Finkielstein said. “The virus does not depend on whether its host walks on two or four legs; Its main objective is survival. »
The study team collected 798 nasal and oral swabs from across Virginia from animals that were trapped alive in the box and released, or treated in rehabilitation centers.
The team received 126 blood samples from six species. The study also found two mice at the same time on the same day with the same variant, suggesting that they passed it from the same human or that one mouse infected the other.
Finkielstein said it’s unclear how the virus had spread from humans to wildlife.
“The maximum hypothesis is about waste, food remains, sewage,” he said. “Something that humans have infected, discarded or eliminated, and then animals have collected. “
Asked if there is any indication that animals can also transmit COVID to humans, he said: “We have no evidence to the contrary. »
The team will continue its studies with the support of a $5 million grant from the U. S. Agricultural Decomponent Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. In order to understand how the presence of the virus might influence the long-term maintenance of COVID in humans.
“We shouldn’t be afraid of wildlife,” Finkielstein said. “We just have to be careful how we convey it. “
Neal Augenstein has been a general reporter at WTOP since 1997. He says he looks forward to going to work every day, even if it means waking up at 3:30 a. m.