Update (January 26, 2022): This study has now been published in PNAS.
A study posted by bioRxiv on November 1 finds SARS-CoV-2 in wild and captive white-tailed deer populations in Iowa, with indications that the virus is traveling through both human-to-deer spillover and deer-to-deer transmission. In the study, the authors warn that their observations reveal an “urgent need” for a better understanding about the “ecology and evolution of SARS-CoV-2,” especially regarding the potential for populations of free-roaming animals like deer to become virus reservoirs and eventual sources of spillover back into humans.
The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, “is the first to provide evidence of widespread dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 into any free-living species, in this case white-tailed deer,” according to the paper, and the authors write that the transmission of the coronavirus from humans to animals poses a challenge for controlling SARS-CoV-2 and can have consequences for ...