A recent study from the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service discovered that white-tailed deer populations in Illinois, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania had been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
White-tailed deer are found in every county in Michigan, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
Researchers discovered antibodies for the virus in 33% of the 481 blood samples they collected from January 2020 through March 2021.
Of the 33% of samples with antibodies present, only three were collected in 2020. All the others were collected in 2021, said Thomas DeLiberto, assistant director at the USDA National Wildlife Research Center and a contributing author of the study.
When compared with 143 samples collected before January 2020, only one sample showed signs of exposure. Researchers determined this sample was a false positive, DeLiberto said.
Researchers do not currently know how the deer were exposed, but it's possible they were exposed through humans, the environment, other deer or another species entirely, according to a USDA summary of the study's findings.
There are about 30 million white-tailed deer across the United States which often come into close contact with people, according to the USDA...
Michigan deer exposed to coronavirus: What it means