Up North deer exposed to coronavirus; hunters need not worry, USDA says
Trending
ALPENA -- Some Northeast Michigan deer have been exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19, a federal study indicates.
Recently, 49 out of 74 deer tested in Alpena, Presque Isle, and Alcona counties tested positive for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a report released last month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The presence of antibodies does not mean an increased risk to hunters or those eating deer meat, the USDA said.
The USDA tested serum samples collected between January 2020 and March 2021 from free-ranging deer in four states, including Michigan.
Of the 113 Michigan deer tested, two-thirds tested positive for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.
While some deer from Northeast Michigan tested positive for the presence of antibodies, the test results do not indicate the extent of exposure to the virus in the deer population as a whole, the USDA cautions.
Of the 34 Alpena County deer tested, 25 had antibodies for SARS-CoV-2. Half of the 12 deer from Presque Isle County and 18 of 21 deer from Alcona County tested positive for the antibody. Of the 11 Michigan counties studied, Montmorency County -- from which seven deer were tested -- was one of only three that produced no positive antibody test results.
Of the four states included in the study, Michigan samples returned the highest percentage of deer testing positive for antibodies. Samples from deer in Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania indicated antibody-positive percentages of 7%, 19%, and 31%, respectively.
No COVID-19 symptoms have been reported in deer, including those experimentally infected with the virus that causes the sickness in humans. Scientists do not know if deer exposure to the virus came from humans, the environment, other deer, or another animal species, the USDA report said.
"There is no evidence" that deer play a significant role in spreading COVID-19 to humans, either through contact or consumption of deer meat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Improperly processed deer meat can infect hunters with many other diseases, and hunters should practice safe handling and processing with any killed animal, the CDC suggested.
The virus can spread from people to susceptible animal species, especially if the animal has close contact with a person with COVID-19, the CDC said.
Scientists have detected COVID-19 in animals around the world, including minks, gorillas, tigers, and dogs and house cats.