Researchers have discovered the virus that causes COVID-19 is present in several wild animal species in Virginia. The study, published in Nature Communications, has implications for how the virus may mutate and jump between species in the future.
798 animals from 23 species were tested across Virginia and Washington D.C., in 2022 and 2023. Results detected the virus SARS-CoV-2 in six species, including deer mice, Virginia opossums, raccoons, groundhogs, Eastern cottontail rabbits and Eastern red bats. “A number of animals that we really have in our backyards,” said Carla Finkielstein, a professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and Virginia Tech — part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers worked on the study.
The highest exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was found in animals near hiking trails and high-traffic public areas, suggesting the virus passed from humans to wildlife, said Finkielstein.
They also did genetic tracking on the animals, which show the mutations of the virus in animals matched variants circulating in humans at the time, which further supports the finding that the virus transmitted from humans to animals, Finkielstein said.
“We did not find any instances of transmission from the animals to humans, and we want to stress that.”
She said it’s not clear how the virus is transmitted to animals. It could be through trash and food waste, or wastewater. She says more research is needed to determine how the virus impacts animals.
Previous studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 is present in deer and mink, and this study expands our knowledge of how widespread the virus is among different animal species.
Finkielstein added that the history of previous pandemics shows just how versatile viruses can be.
“The viruses usually hide in a different species for several, several years and eventually comes back,” Finkielstein said. “So, we need to learn from those previous experiences.”
The study revealed one instance of the virus in one opossum that showed a viral mutation that hasn’t been seen in human population.
Finkielstein said more surveillance can help us prevent spillovers of SARS-CoV-2 from animals to humans in the future and be proactive in preventing another wave of vaccine resistant COVID-19.
