New Study also Suggests at least One-third of the US White-tail Deer Population has had COVID-19

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey’s White-tailed Deer herd is a major component of the landscape throughout all but the most urbanized areas of the state. White-tailed Deer affect our forests, farms, gardens, backyards, and roadways. From a population reduced to a handful of deer in the early 1900s they rebounded during the 20th Century to a thriving herd today.

Managing deer in the most highly populated state in the nation has many challenges. In addition to regulated hunting, Fish and Wildlife offer numerous other options, such as Community-Based Deer Management permits, DMAP permits (Deer Management Assistance Program), and farmer depredation permits but lack of access to lands which harbor deer is the greatest obstacle to successful deer population management in New Jersey.

Fish and Wildlife closely monitors deer population trends and disease occurrences in New Jersey, sampling annually for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and monitoring outbreaks of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) when they occur.

A healthy deer herd, managed at levels that are compatible with land use and human populations, has great value to the people of the state. In addition to providing a healthy and sustainable food source to many New Jerseyans, deer are photographed, watched, and admired by many residents and visitors alike.

Findings announced this week by the US Department of Agriculture, are in line with previous research, which suggested that white-tailed deer can readily pick up SARS-CoV-2 from humans, spread it to each other, and, based on at least one instance in Canada, transmit the virus back to humans.  Study also suggests at least one-third of the US white-tail deer population has had COVID-19,

But the new study, led by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), provides a broader picture of deer transmission dynamics in the US and ultimately bolsters concern that white-tailed deer have the potential to be a virus reservoir. That is, populations of deer can acquire and harbor SARS-CoV-2 viral lineages, which can adapt to their new hosts and spill back over to humans, causing new waves of infection. It’s conceivable that viruses moving from deer to humans could at some point qualify as new variants, potentially with the ability to dodge our immune protections built up from past infection and vaccination.