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U.S. deer are catching COVID-19. What that means for our fight against the virus

TU Curmudgeon

B.A. (Sarc), LLb. (Lex Sarcasus), PhD (Sarc.)
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Lower Mainland of BC
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Centrist
From Global News


Many white-tailed deer in the northern U.S. have caught COVID-19, some new studies suggest, with potential implications for the pandemic fight.


And while the same hasn’t yet been found in Canadian deer, scientists say that finding the virus in wild animals could spell the end for any hopes of completely eliminating COVID-19 in humans.

“Any disease that gets into multiple species, we can’t eradicate,” said Scott Weese, a veterinary infectious disease specialist with the Ontario Veterinary College and director of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses.

Two recent U.S. studies have found evidence that COVID-19 is in the deer population. In one study, researchers sampled 283 deer in Iowa from April 2020 to January 2021 and found that one-third of them had evidence of COVID-19 infection. The researchers said these infections likely resulted from multiple human-to-deer and deer-to-deer transmissions.

COMMENT:-

No reason for people to run around screaming "The sky is falling, the SKY is falling, the SKY is FALLING." - but that doesn't mean that they won't do it (and blaming Mr. Biden for not building enough "SkyProps" to prevent it).​
 
We've known this for some time. There is a non-human reservoir of the virus and, short of eradicating all life, this virus will never go away.

This is the reason everyone knows Biden's puppet masters (Obama) were liars when he told the public, "I will end this."
 

Well, that certainly didn't take long to attract the first irrational response.
 
TU Curmudgeon said:
Well, that certainly didn't take long to attract the first irrational response.
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Yeah, but it wasn't even close to irrational enough. In this age of hyper irrationality, we need to think really big. Here's my idea. Every country send up their nukes and we nuke the entire planet. If we kill everything that can even remotely become infected then we will finally win this war against Covid. The good news in all of that is all the republicans will die.
 
I find that rather perplexing on how the deer initially came into contact with the virus. We know house cats, and their larger cousins in zoos have contracted the virus, and how, by contact with humans. I am not doubting the articles authenticity, just curious as how deer in the wild could catch the virus.

We know cats tend to show mild symptoms and recover quickly. How severe does the virus effect the deer is a question.
 
Mycroft said:
Correct. We saw it in post number one.
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Incorrect

The article is a valid discussion, and i don't believe infected deer give a rats arse about partisan politics.

Go away
 
Why would you assume end means eradication?
 
I wonder if domestic animals are similarly vulnerable. We love the close contact we enjoy with our furry housemates, but are they bringing an unwanted gift home from their wanderings? My cat explores the woodland my house is adjacent to, and encounters a lot of wildlife-as the weekly mammalian corpses appearing in my kitchen proves.
 
I just reread The Stand. It's different reading it these days than it was when I was younger.
 
Yes cats where among the first to contract the virus, as the protein in their lungs is very similiar to ours, same goes for ferrets. There have been cases of man's best friend also catching Covid, but cats seem to be more susceptible.

When the virus first spread there where fears that primates, especially mountain gorilla's in zoos could also catch the virus. They are an endangered species, and i believe one in a US zoo did die recently of covid.

I would like to hear others thoughts on how deer in the wild could come into contact with the virus.
 
Helix said:
I just reread The Stand. It's different reading it these days than it was when I was younger.
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A good novel, especially the first third as it describes the spread of the flu and society breaking down. When i first read it after its initial release it both fascinated and frightened me.

Do try to read the unabridged version. It expands on the first third of the novel, with much more detail on American society collapsing.
 
That was the version we picked. I think the first version I read was the abridged. I'm not sure, because I can't find my original copy.
 
Helix said:
That was the version we picked. I think the first version I read was the abridged. I'm not sure, because I can't find my original copy.
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As was the case with my first reading of the novel, abridged. King released an unedited version a few years later as the novel was such a success. The abridged version possibly is no longer in print.

I have always found the end unsatisfying, just my personal opinion. King was stuck on an ending, let the novel stew while he developed an end piece. Many prefer The Shining, but The Stand is his masterpiece.
 
As a single book, possibly. However, the Dark Tower series is the spine of the Stephen King universe, IMO.
 
Helix said:
As a single book, possibly. However, the Dark Tower series is the spine of the Stephen King universe, IMO.
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I have never read the series, I believe it's too much in the fantasy genre for my tastes. I guess i am too much of a realist, I did not even enjoy Lord of the Rings.
 
yankintx said:
I have never read the series, I believe it's too much in the fantasy genre for my tastes. I guess i am too much of a realist, I did not even enjoy Lord of the Rings.
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It's good. To put it as vaguely as possible, you can fit most of his other books into the Dark Tower multiverse. My wife and I read the whole series (for me it was the second time) a year or two ago.
 
How the heck are deer getting Covid? Nearly all hunters are Trump supporters. Are they trying to wrestle with the deer instead of shoot them. I’m assuming they are infecting the deer which gets away from them.
 
yankintx said:
I find that rather perplexing on how the deer initially came into contact with the virus.
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There is something about an air borne virus that enables it to infect animals that breathe.
DO NOT QUOTE ME ON THIS, because I don't have a reliable source, but it APPEARS that the disease is less lethal in the deer population than it is in the human population. If that is the case, they you can conclude two things:

[1] the deer population will continue to be carriers able to infect others for some time;​
​
and​
​
[2] unvaccinated people who are "hunters" will continue to get infected and then return to re-transmit the disease.​
 
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