Up to 80 percent of deer sampled from April 2020 through January 2021 in Iowa were infected, a new study indicated.

A new study of hundreds of white-tailed deer infected with the coronavirus in Iowa has found that the animals probably are contracting the virus from humans, and then rapidly spreading it among one another, according to researchers.

Scientists said the findings pose worrisome implications for the spread of the coronavirus, although they were not able to identify how the deer might have contracted the virus from humans. There is no evidence that deer have passed the virus back to humans.

New York Times report

Preprint: Multiple spillovers and onward transmission of SARS-Cov-2 in free-living and captive White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

https://www.coronaheadsup.com/coronavirus/sars-cov-2-checkmate-to-the-virus-in-four-moves/

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