Thread by @DrEricDing

NEW—White-tailed deer on NY Staten Island have been found carrying the #Omicron variant—marking the first time Omicron has been reported in wild animals. The results intensify concerns that deer could become a reservoir & a potential source of new variants nytimes.com/2022/02/07/hea…

2) The researchers also found that one deer with Omicron already had a high level of antibodies, suggesting that it may have been previously infected. If #Omicron is similarly immune-evasive in deer, animals infected during earlier outbreaks may be vulnerable to reinfection.

3) “longer-term, widespread circulation of the virus in deer would give the virus more opportunity to mutate, potentially giving rise to new variants that could spill over into people. “The circulation of the virus in deer provides opportunities for it to adapt and evolve,”

4) Between mid-December and the end of January, the field workers collected blood samples from 131 captured deer, as well as nasal and tonsillar swabs (throat swabs!! 👀) from a smaller subset of animals.

5) Nearly 15 percent of the deer had antibodies to the virus in their blood, the researchers found, suggesting that the animals had previously been infected with it.

6) The P.C.R. tests also revealed that viral samples from all seven deer had a pattern of mutations that was suggestive of the Omicron variant.

7) more worrisome than Omicron… there are now reservoirs of completely unidentified variants circulating in NYC sewers… that are evasive against MABs and are high binding to rats 🐀- and NYC sure has millions of rats.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1490568408437567490

8) But if the findings hold up, and deer can be repeatedly reinfected by new variants, it raises the risk that the animals could become a reservoir for the virus, the scientists said.

9) “You can imagine this could be a never-ending, perpetual cycle of deer constantly circulating the virus among themselves and picking up the new variants,” said Suresh Kuchipudi, a veterinary microbiologist at Penn State who led the research team.

10) “How humans are spreading the virus to deer remains unknown. People could spread the virus to the animals directly — perhaps by hand-feeding deer in parks or yards, the researchers noted — or indirectly, through wastewater or contaminated trash.”

11) Talking the risk of variants isn’t fearmongering. It’s the precautionary thing - and being prepared for sources of new variant is critical. Knowing is half the battle.

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1490500144462237697

12) If people wonder how deer can easily get infected with #SARSCoV2, this video shows how much their exhaled breath stays suspended in the air when simply breathing or snorting. Reminder— you do that too when you’re at a concert / stadium.

HT @PPEtoheros