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. 2022 Sep;69(5):e3244-e3249.
doi: 10.1111/tbed.14534. Epub 2022 Apr 8.

Screening of wild deer populations for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in the United Kingdom, 2020-2021

Maya Holding  1   2 , Ashley David Otter  3 , Stuart Dowall  1 , Katsuhisa Takumi  4 , Bethany Hicks  3 , Tom Coleman  3 , Georgia Hemingway  3 , Matthew Royds  3 , Stephen Findlay-Wilson  1 , Mollie Curran-French  1 , Richard Vipond  1   2 , Hein Sprong  4 , Roger Hewson  1   2   5
Affiliations

Screening of wild deer populations for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in the United Kingdom, 2020-2021

Maya Holding et al. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Following findings in Northern America of SARS-CoV-2 infections in white-tailed deer, there is concern of similar infections in European deer and their potential as reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2 including opportunities for the emergence of new variants. UK deer sera were collected in 2020-2021 from 6 species and a hybrid with 1748 tested using anti-spike and anti-nucleocapsid serology assays. No samples were positive on both assays nor by surrogate neutralization testing. There is no evidence that spill-over infections of SARS-CoV-2 occurred from the human population to UK deer or that SARS-CoV-2 has been circulating in UK deer (over the study period). Although it cannot be ruled out, study results indicate that spill-over infections followed by circulation of SARS-CoV-2 to the most common European deer species is small.

Keywords: COVID-19 serological testing; SARS-CoV-2; United Kingdom; deer; sentinel surveillance; viral zoonoses.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Distribution of S and N assay values; the dashed lines indicate the assay positive cut‐off values. The positive cut‐off values are >0.8 for the S assay and >1.0 for the N
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Distribution of samples by county/Unitary Authority; the number indicating the sample size of each and colour indicating percentage of samples appearing positive on the S assay. Source: Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (2021) and National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right (2021). © Esri, DeLorme
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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