A new study has found high rates of SARS CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) exposure and active infection among white-tailed deer tested across Iowa. Previously, antibodies detected in deer suggested exposure to the virus, but this is the first confirmation of active infection and deer-to-deer transmission.
Researchers at Penn State University also used genome sequencing of the viral samples to learn that SARS CoV-2 reached deer through multiple “spillover” events from humans. There is still no evidence that deer can transmit the disease to humans in a “spillback” direction.
Read more from the National Deer Association here.