New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Scientists have found SARS-CoV-2 spreads like any other virus among white-tailed deer and other wild animals in the United States, CNN reported.
People are the likely source, but that doesn't mean the virus can't evolve among these animals and then spill back into humans, and researchers are worried about what this spread means for the risk of future pandemics, the report said.
There's little doubt SARS-Cov-2, the virus that caused the ongoing pandemic, came from an animal -- almost certainly a bat. And the prevailing scientific opinion is that there is an intermediate host, an animal of some sort, that was infected by a bat or bats and then infected people, the report added.
It's also clear that people can infect animals. Pets such as cats, zoo animals such as gorillas and snow leopards and farmed mink can all be infected. Multiple cases have been reported, and evidence of changes in the viruses infecting mink have led to mass culls of those animals on fur farms, the report added.
The latest species to capture the attention of wildlife biologists are white-tailed deer. It's little surprise that farmed deer would catch the virus from people. Any visitor to a deer farm knows the animals behave like goats, shoving their wet noses into the pockets, hands and faces of human visitors or caregivers as they clamor for food and treats -- and setting themselves up for infection.
"If somebody might bite an apple and throw it or even if I sneeze in a tissue and drop it," speculated Dr Suresh Kuchipudi of the Animal Diagnostic Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University, who helped lead one study published earlier this month that found a third of deer they tested across Iowa between September of 2020 and January of 2021 showed evidence of infection.
Sewage has been found to carry the virus, so polluted water might be a source, he added, or people spitting or contaminating the environment in other ways. The deer may then spread the virus to one another, the report added.
Shankquia Peterson, 32, died on Thursday afternoon, Miami-Dade police said in a news release. She was among the 23 people shot early Sunday during a rapper’s album release party at the El Mula Banquet Hall. Two of the victims remained in critical condition at a hospital, police said.
President Joe Biden plans to share COVID-19 vaccines with the world, including directing 75% of excess doses through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program.
President Joe Biden and his wife were heading to their Delaware beach house Wednesday evening to help the first lady celebrate that personal milestone on Thursday.
Canada will provide $25 million to Palestinian civilians affected by the recent conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians in Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.
Biden sought to use the stop on Friday at Sportrock Climbing Centers — an 18,000-square-foot (1,670-square-meter) space of climbing and bouldering walls, a gym, and yoga studios — to celebrate progress made as the country looks to turn the corner on the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 593,000 Americans and 3.5 million people worldwide.
After the violence in Jerusalem escalated into a war between Israel and Hamas on May 10 with Gaza’s ruling militant Hamas group firing rockets on Israel, the UAE muted its direct criticism of Israel and instead issued a statement calling on “all parties” to cease fighting.
