Deer get COVID

[Stein]

I don't play in the COVID trenches, so I'll post it here.  More good news on the deer front.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/11/10/1054224204/how-sars-cov-2-in-american-deer-could-alter-the-course-of-the-global-pandemic

Scientists have evidence that SARS-CoV-2 spreads explosively in white-tailed deer, and the virus is widespread in this deer population across the U.S.

[wadu1]

Sound like anti-hunting vegans are doing the research

[JJB11B]

Good, plant them in every major city in the country.

[kellama2001]

So they used the PCR test that is being discontinued at the end of the year for returning a high amount of false positives. I'm guessing the numbers aren't as scary as they make it out to be.

[Stein]

So they used the PCR test that is being discontinued at the end of the year for returning a high amount of false positives. I'm guessing the numbers aren't as scary as they make it out to be.

Whole genome sequencing of the 94 positive RPLN samples identified 12 SARS-CoV-2 lineages, with B.1.2 (n = 51; 54.5%), and B.1.311 (n = 19; 20%) accounting for ~75% of all samples.

Whole genome sequencing 100% of the positive results is turning over a bunch of stones.  Even if they are half right, that's a lot of interesting questions.

For those reaching for foil, they tested deer because modeling showed deer in particular were likely susceptible to the disease in an extremely specific way.  That's pretty dang specific.  What else does the modeling show?  Lots of other animals scored high for propensity to catch and transmit and even more scored medium - things like cattle, sheep, goats and the things we keep in zoos.

Even more interesting, bats scored low and very low in the modeling, even the specific type of bats suspected as likely involved in the origin of the disease.

We analyzed ACE2 from 37 bat species, of which 8 and 29 scored low and very low, respectively. These results were intriguing because the three Rhinolophus spp. tested, including the Chinese rufous horseshoe bat, are major suspects in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, or a closely related virus, to humans

https://www.pnas.org/content/117/36/22311

Not sure what it means for deer, but it seems bats can't get it...

[hunter399]

Don't even bat an eye about it .  
Just another bluetongue outbreak.
It happens every few years ,you know when a new covid variant pops up.