WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Could COVID-19 be roaming around in your backyard?
Researchers discovered a group of deer in the New York City area had antibodies for the omicron variant.
But can the virus be transmitted to humans? Scientists say it very well could, but that question is still being studied.
Cornell University virologist Dr. Diego Diel says what we do know is COVID-19 in the deer population could lead to new mutations.
“Every time that you have multiple species that can harbor the virus, it becomes much more complicated to completely control that, and I think that’s one of the challenges,” he said.
Diel says experimental studies also found infected deer can transmit the virus to other deer for about a week after infection.
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