Virus that causes Covid is widespread among wildlife species in US: Study

A team of researchers at Virginia Tech said in the latest study that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is widespread among wildlife species. The researchers said that they examined 23 common backyard species in Virginia and found that six of them harboured the virus. 

The study, published on Monday (Jul 29) in the journal Nature Communications, mentioned that SARS-CoV-2 was detected in six common backyard species, including deer mice, opossums, raccoons, groundhogs, cottontail rabbits and red bats. 

The study, titled, "Widespread exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in wildlife communities", noted that antibodies indicating prior exposure to the coronavirus were found in five animal species. 

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The rates of exposure ranged from 40% to 60% between species, with researchers saying that the full extent of SARS-CoV-2 exposure among wildlife communities and the factors that influence wildlife transmission risk remain unknown. 

The study found that genetic monitoring in wild animals verified the existence of SARS-CoV-2 and distinct viral mutations with lineages closely resembling versions that were circulating in humans. 

The findings have further validated the hypothesis that humans may transmit the virus to animals. Last year in September, a study published in Nature Communications highlighted how the virus commonly leaps from humans to white-tailed deer, and it is probably evolving even more rapidly. The virus was also reported in feral mink. 

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The scientists at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, the Department of Biological Sciences in Virginia Tech's College of Science, and the Fralin Life Sciences Institute said that the highest exposure to the Covid virus was found in animals near hiking trails and high-traffic public areas. The findings have suggested that the virus passed from humans to wildlife. 

The researchers further added that there was no evidence of Covid passing from animals to humans, so people don't need to worry about getting the illness from any critters they come across while on a hike. 

Researcher Carla Finkielstein, a professor of biological sciences with Virginia Tech's Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, said: "The virus can jump from humans to wildlife when we are in contact with them, like a hitchhiker switching rides to a new, more suitable host." 

"The goal of the virus is to spread in order to survive. The virus aims to infect more humans, but vaccinations protect many humans. So, the virus turns to animals, adapting and mutating to thrive in the new hosts," Finkielstein added in a Virginia Tech news release. 

The study's primary focus was Virginia, but several of the species that tested positive are widespread animals found all around North America. Researchers said there is an urgent need for surveillance throughout a larger territory because it is possible that they are also being exposed in other places. 

(With inputs from agencies)