2024-07-30 17:28:00
(ANSA) – ROME, JULY 30 – The SarsCoV2 virus, responsible for Covid-19, is also spreading among wild animals, especially those that frequent areas where humans are more present, such as hiking trails. It is also undergoing mutations that have not been found in humans. This is what emerges from a study conducted by researchers at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University of Blacksburg (USA) and published in the journal Nature Communications.
The researchers analyzed more than 900 samples from wild animals of 23 different species. They found evidence of infection in deer mice, opossums, raccoons, marmots, rabbits (eastern cottontails), and eastern red bats. The virus isolated from an opossum also showed viral mutations that had never been observed before.
It is not yet clear what the transmission methods are.
The most likely ones are garbage and food left by humans outdoors.
This spread is a signal that researchers should not ignore. “I think the big take-home message is that the virus is ubiquitous,” study lead author Amanda Goldberg said in a statement.
This is a phenomenon to monitor: “The establishment of SarsCoV2 infections in wild communities could lead to new mutations that increase virulence, transmissibility or give the virus the ability to escape the immune response, with a negative impact on both humans and wild populations,” the researchers write.
(ANSA).
2024-07-30 17:28:00