| I find these observations both fascinating & concerning - it represents another subtle but important dimension to consider in our ongoing efforts to mitigate the pandemic. Although not specifically mentioned in the paper, IMO farms and home gardens are a likely place for such pathogens to be exchanged. Highlights from the paper (which is not peer-reviewed yet): - "We evaluated 624 pre- and post-pandemic serum samples from wild deer from four U.S. states for SARS-CoV-2 exposure." - "Antibodies were detected in 152 samples (40%) from 2021 using a surrogate virus neutralization test." - "Seroprevalence for individual counties was highly clustered with nearly half of the 32 counties sampled showing no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 exposure" - "Several potential transmission routes are possible for movement of this virus into wild deer populations. [..] including captive cervid operations, field research, conservation work, wildlife tourism, wildlife rehabilitation, supplemental feeding, and hunting." - "Wildlife contact with contaminated water sources has also been offered as a potential transmission route, although transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater has yet to be conclusively demonstrated. Transmission from fomites or other infected animal species cannot be discounted." - "Besides health impacts to wildlife, persistent infections in a novel host could lead to adaptation, strain evolution, and re-emergence of strains with altered transmissibility, pathogenicity, and vaccine escape." |
I'm more concerned about wastewater treatment plants