Outdoors: Deer are infected with COVID-19 virus. Here’s what hunters need to do to protect themselves – The Columbus Dispatch

Dave Golowenski| Special to The Columbus Dispatch

The fact that a significant percentage of wild Ohio deer tested last winter were positive forSARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus pathogen that causes COVID-19 in people, doesnt necessarily change the hunting game when the 2021-22 whitetail season opens later this month.

Prudent hunters, however, should wear rubber or throwaway surgical gloves when field-dressing a downed animal. And thats only one of several just-in-case precautions being recommended by the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

That's because what was found in the wild deer captured by Ohio State Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine with test results confirmed at a federal lab is in fact the same virus identified in late 2019 at the start of a global outbreak, said Mike Tonkovich, the wildlife divisions deer project leader.

None of the infected Ohio deer showed signs of disease.

People arent consistently as fortunate. Infection symptoms range from none to hospitalization and death. COVIDis officially blamed for almost 650,000 deaths in the United States and around 4.5 million worldwide.

SARS-CoV-2 is known to infect a number of wild and domesticated animals, some more readily than others. Deer, it turns out, are among the creatures that, like humans, are prone to the pathogen.

Researchers earlierthis year noteda high degree of similarity between the SARS-CoV-2 receptor in humans and deer, and they demonstrated in lab testing that deer arehighly susceptible to infection.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture study conducted around the same time showed abouta third of the hundreds of deer sampled between January 2020 and March 2021 in Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and Illinois possessedSARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

What made the Ohio deer results unique was thatthe active SARS-CoV-2 virus was discovered, not merely antibodies, and the virus wasfound in about 35 percent of the animals. Those tests, of course, offer a snapshot of the Buckeye State deer landscape months ago, not a guidebook for what lies ahead.

While its probable that humans spread SARS-CoV-2 into the North American deer population, no evidence to this point indicates whitetails are infecting people, though that possibility remains.

Because deer dont exhibit overt symptoms from an active SARS-CoV-2 infection theres no way to know whether a deer has the disease. To this point, however, deerseem to pose little threat to hunters who take care.

Testing shows the coronavirus isn't present in blood, body muscle, lungs, kidneys, trachea or colon. Sources of infection are mostlythe nose, throat and upper respiratory areas.

Under such circumstances, wearing rubber gloves is a no-brainer. Equally important is keeping hands away from the face.

Dont eat. Dont smoke while field dressing, Tonkovich said. You might want to wear a face covering, he added.

outdoors@dispatch.com

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Outdoors: Deer are infected with COVID-19 virus. Here's what hunters need to do to protect themselves - The Columbus Dispatch