SARS-CoV-2 Efficiently Transmitted Deer-to-Deer

New York-based Cornell University and U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers conducted the study, published in PLOS Pathogens on March 21, 2022. This new study indicates that white-tailed deer (WTD) inoculated with COVID-19–causing SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus shed infectious virus for up to 5 days, resulting in efficient deer-to-deer transmission on day #3.

The Research Article's authors say 'there is potential for deer to become a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2.

'Our results demonstrate a broad tissue tropism of the virus, with active replication taking place in respiratory (nasal turbinate, trachea, bronchus and lung), lymphoid (palatine and pharyngeal tonsil, retropharyngeal, mandibular and tracheobronchial lymph nodes and thymus), and central nervous tissues (olfactory lobes, cerebrum, caudate nucleus of brain and cerebellum).'

'High viral loads were observed in nasal turbinates and lymphoid tissues associated with the oral cavity (tonsils, retropharyngeal and mandibular lymph nodes) or respiratory system (tracheobronchial lymph nodes).'

'We defined that SARS-CoV-2 has a short window of infectivity and transmissibility in WTD, which is similar to what has been described in humans and other animal species and demonstrated that the virus presents a broad tissue tropism and multiple replication sites in this species.'

Note: This study was edited for clarity and manually curated for mobile readers.