02/09/2022

Not Just Humans

Study finds omicron spike hit deer, too

Last December, when New York City’s COVID-19 rates spiked due to the emerging omicron variant, humans weren’t the only mammals affected.

The highly infectious variant also hit the white-tailed deer population on Staten Island, the most suburban of the city’s five boroughs, according to a study led by Penn State University scientists

The omicron variant was detected in nasal swabs from seven of 68 Staten Island deer tested between Dec. 13 and Jan. 31, according to the study, which was funded by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.