Having already proven to not be limited to the human race in terms of its transmissibility, COVID-19 has now been passed from humans to the wild deer population in a number of states, according to recent studies.
These latest findings could make exiting the current pandemic a much more challenging journey.
A study published in Nature last month outlined how scientists in Ohio found at least six occurrences of humans spreading the coronavirus to the local white-tailed deer population by swabbing the nostrils of the animals.
The outbreak appears to be widespread according to the evidence in that state as well as in Iowa, where tissue from roadkill was tested.
The nation's free-range deer population numbers around 30 million, and the virus could have a huge impact on the species if it continues to spread freely. Part of the risk comes from the possibility of the virus mutating in deer to create a new variant, as well as the chance that variants that have seemingly dissipated to recirculate again later.
“The sheer possibility that these things are happening and it’s unknown makes this very unsettling,” Suresh Kuchipudi, a virologist at Pennsylvania State University, told NBC News. “We could be caught by surprise with a completely different variant.”
So far there have been no instances discovered of COVID passing in the other direction, from deer to human, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
The virus was passed from farmers to animals on Dutch mink farms in 2020, and then passed back from the minks to humans with new unforeseen mutations, meaning unpredictable variants could be looming in the future.
“Whenever the virus jumps into a different species, that could lead to adaptation,” Kuchipudi said, meaning it’s important to bring the virus under control.
“If we let the virus continue to circulate among humans, we are not only endangering the vulnerable sector of our population, but we could also be putting our animals and environment at danger,” Kuchipudi said.
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