SARS-CoV-2 occurrence in white-tailed deer throughout their range in the conterminous United States

Bevins, Sarah N.; Chipman, Richard B.; Beckerman, Scott F.; Bergman, David L.; Collins, Derek T; DeLiberto, Thomas J.; Eckery, Joshua P; Ellis, Jeremy W.; Gosser, Allen L.; Heale, Jonathon D; Klemm, Jason M; Lantz, Kristina; Linder, Timothy; Oswald, Mitch; Pleszewski, Robert; Quintanal, Christopher A; Ringenberg, Jourdan M; Weir, Kelsey R; Torchetti, Mia Kim; Lenoch, Julianna B.; Chandler, Jeffrey C.; Shriner, Susan A.

doi:10.1101/2023.04.14.533542

“…This has been demonstrated by both laboratory studies 16,17 and several reports of naturally infected deer in multiple states and provinces within the United States and Canada 4,9-15 . Since prior surveillance studies have reported RT-qPCR positivity rates of upwards of 30% in nasal swabs 4 and seropositivity rates of more than 40% 12,26 , it was initially surprising that no animals within the Vermont sample set were positive, especially during the 2022 season. However, recent work from Diel et al describing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 within deer in New York state during the 2021 and 2022 seasons showed only sporadic positives during 2021 and a significant increase (up to 20%) in the 2022 season 15 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While it has not been established how SARS-CoV-2 is introduced into wild deer populations, it seems likely that this occurs via human-to-deer transmission, deer-to-deer transmission, or a combination of the two 26,28 . Vermont may have multiple features that reduced farmed animals (such as mink) and farm employees that care for them has been well documented for viruses including SARS-CoV-2 and is a plausible route for the initial introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into deer populations as well 30 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surveillance of Vermont wildlife in 2021-2022 reveals no detected SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA

Despres

¹

,

Mills

²

,

Schmidt

³

et al. 2023

Preprint

2

0

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Previous studies have documented natural infections of SARS-CoV-2 in various domestic and wild animals. More recently, studies have been published noting the susceptibility of members of the Cervidae family, and infections in both wild and captive cervid populations. In this study, we investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in mammalian wildlife within the state of Vermont. 739 nasal or throat samples were collected from wildlife throughout the state during the 2021 and 2022 harvest season. Data was collected from red and gray foxes (Vulpes vulples and Urocyon cineroargentus, respectively), fishers (Martes pennati), river otters (Lutra canadensis), coyotes (Canis lantrans), bobcats (Lynx rufus rufus), black bears (Ursus americanus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Samples were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 via quantitative RT-qPCR using the CDC N1/N2 primer set and/or the WHO-E gene primer set. Our results indicate that no sampled wildlife were positive for SARS-CoV-2. This finding is surprising, given that most published North America studies have found SARS-CoV-2 within their deer populations. The absence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in populations sampled here may provide insights in to the various environmental and anthropogenic factors that reduce spillover and spread in North American's wildlife populations.

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“…From October 2021 through March 2022 there were 10,217 nasal or oral swab samples from WTD tested from 27 states and Washington, DC. SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA was detected in 13% (1,307) of the 10,217 samples [17,18]. The raw, apparent prevalence summaries are descriptive statistics that do not account for the opportunistic sample collection.…”

Section: Description Of Sample Composition and Descriptive Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Deer-to-deer transmission may occur within wild populations beyond the initial introduction period. Surveillance studies in WTD have shown persistence of SARS-CoV-2 alpha and gamma variants in populations 4-6 months after their peak circulation and extinction in the human population [4,5,17,18]. These data describing susceptibility and transmission capabilities of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD and the fact that WTD are abundant and share a variety of habitats with humans across the United States [19], highlight the need to understand potential infection dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD across the range of the species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This made it challenging to understand how widespread SARS-CoV-2 is in WTD, its epidemiological dynamics, and associated ecological drivers. Recently, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been working with state wildlife agencies in conducting widespread surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD to address these gaps [5,17]. Here, we use data from a surveillance program of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD [17] to estimate the spatial distribution of true prevalence, infection rates and their relationship to specific risk factors, and the temporal dynamics of initial invasion into WTD across their range over 13 months.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Epidemiological Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in White-tailed Deer

Hewitt

¹

,

Wilson-Henjum

²

,

Collins

³

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

1

0

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Understanding pathogen emergence in new host species is fundamental for developing prevention and response plans for human and animal health. We leveraged a large-scale surveillance dataset coordinated by United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and state natural resources agencies to quantify infection of SARS-CoV-2 in North American white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; WTD) using a hierarchical epidemiological model in the eastern half of the United States. Our model found that male deer had higher positivity than female deer, and positivity was higher in counties with higher human population density or deer habitat. Estimated SARS-CoV-2 local epidemiological reproduction numbers were between 1 and 2.5 in most well-sampled counties, with local epidemics in WTD peaking earlier in the northeast and mid-Atlantic relative to the Midwest and Southeast. Similar peak infection prevalence times across many counties provided indirect evidence for widespread transmission via human-to-deer spillover, while the widespread high estimates of local epidemiological reproduction number suggested that sustained deer-to-deer transmission is also probable. The model estimated 10% of infected WTD were infected due to human infection pressure.

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Surveillance of Vermont wildlife in 2021–2022 reveals no detected SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA

Despres,

Mills,

Schmidt

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

1

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous studies have documented natural infections of SARS-CoV-2 in various domestic and wild animals. More recently, studies have been published noting the susceptibility of members of the Cervidae family, and infections in both wild and captive cervid populations. In this study, we investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in mammalian wildlife within the state of Vermont. 739 nasal or throat samples were collected from wildlife throughout the state during the 2021 and 2022 harvest season. Data was collected from red and gray foxes (Vulpes vulples and Urocyon cineroargentus, respectively), fishers (Martes pennati), river otters (Lutra canadensis), coyotes (Canis lantrans), bobcats (Lynx rufus rufus), black bears (Ursus americanus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Samples were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 via quantitative RT-qPCR using the CDC N1/N2 primer set and/or the WHO-E gene primer set. Surprisingly, we initially detected a number of N1 and/or N2 positive samples with high cycle threshold values, though after conducting environmental swabbing of the laboratory and verifying with a second independent primer set (WHO-E) and PCR without reverse transcriptase, we showed that these were false positives due to plasmid contamination from a construct expressing the N gene in the general laboratory environment. Our final results indicate that no sampled wildlife were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, and highlight the importance of physically separate locations for the processing of samples for surveillance and experiments that require the use of plasmid DNA containing the target RNA sequence. These negative findings are surprising, given that most published North America studies have found SARS-CoV-2 within their deer populations. The absence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in populations sampled here may provide insights in to the various environmental and anthropogenic factors that reduce spillover and spread in North American’s wildlife populations.

show abstract

SARS-CoV-2 occurrence in white-tailed deer throughout their range in the conterminous United States

Cited by 8 publications

References 12 publications

Surveillance of Vermont wildlife in 2021-2022 reveals no detected SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA

Surveillance of Vermont wildlife in 2021-2022 reveals no detected SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA

Epidemiological Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in White-tailed Deer

Surveillance of Vermont wildlife in 2021–2022 reveals no detected SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA

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