What do we know about COVID-19’s impacts on Southern Utah’s wildlife?

ST. GEORGE — While Southern Utah’s humans have been battling respiratory syncytial virus, influenza and COVID-19 this illness season, biologists and wildlife veterinarians continue to study the impacts the pandemic has on native wildlife populations.

This file photo shows deer after snowfall forced them out of the mountains in Springville, Utah, 2016 | Photo courtesy of the Division of Wildlife Resources, St. George News

Between January 2020 and March 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service collected 481 samples from free-ranging white-tailed deer in Illinois, Michigan, New York,
and Pennsylvania to test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, which were found in approximately 33% of the samples, according to this document released by the agency.

Once it was found that the virus was spreading through deer populations, researchers began tracking COVID-19 variants in both humans and deer, Virginia Stout, a wildlife veterinarian with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, told St. George News.

One question they hoped to answer was whether other wildlife would contract and shed the virus and if they’d show clinical signs of illness, Stout said.

While scientists have found that deer can contract and spread COVID within populations, the animals have not been observed with symptoms, and Stout said it doesn’t appear they are dying of it.

Thus far, there has been one known transmission from deer to a human, and Stout said that person worked closely with the animals.

A doe on the Henry Mountains, Utah, July 2015 | Photo courtesy of Scott Root and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, St. George News

In Southwestern Ontario, Canada, an individual tested positive after being in close contact with deer the week before symptom onset and had no known exposure from other COVID-positive people before or after their contact with the ungulates, according to a 2022 study.

The strain the person contracted was reportedly genetically similar to a coronavirus lineage that was “highly divergent” and had mutated many times, which was found in samples taken from white-tailed deer in the same geographic region, the study found.

While there is little evidence that humans are at high risk of contracting the virus from deer, more study needs to be completed, Stout said.

Additionally, deer could be contracting the virus from humans, but Stout said scientists are still unclear on how it spreads among the animals. Thus far, one mule deer has tested positive in Utah.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service collaborated on a research study to test various species for COVID, enlisting DWR biologists to collect nasal swabs and blood samples from deer during their annual helicopter captures, according to this release. They collected about 280 samples from deer across the state.

A female mule deer from Morgan County tested positive for the delta variant and researchers found antibodies in blood samples from several other deer, indicating the virus had already been present in the population, the release states.

This file photo shows a cougar in the snow, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Lynn Chamberlain, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, St. George News

While the preliminary results show that more deer may have been exposed, scientists “still don’t know what that means yet,” Stout said.

“There’s more studies happening this year to try and get at those questions and see, over time, what happens with infected deer,’ she added.

Researchers have also studied the impacts of the virus on zoo animals, as they are often exposed to humans, and found that big cats, like lions, tigers and leopards are susceptible to COVID, Stout said, adding that these species show clinical signs of illness, such as upper respiratory symptoms.

How native populations of big cats, like cougars, are impacted is less clear, but there is ongoing research seeking to better understand the situation, Stout said.

“We don’t have all the answers yet,” she said.

Precautionary measures

Individuals who encounter wild animals should keep their distance and should not feed them, which could help reduce the spread of disease, Stout said, adding that these guidelines should be followed regardless for the safety of both humans and wildlife.

“(Feeding animals) can actually congregate them and make them more susceptible to transmission,” she said. “Just like humans, when we go to a party, it’s easier to get any kind of infection when you’re that close.”

Undated file photo of mule deer in winter | Photo courtesy of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, St. George News

While the risk of contracting COVID-19 from animals in the U.S. is low, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is still essential to follow safety precautions and “enjoy wildlife from a distance.”

They may also carry other zoonotic diseases even if they don’t appear sick, according to the agency’s website.

Other precautions include washing hands after working outside and not touching wildlife or their droppings, the agency states.

Additionally, while there is no evidence that the virus can be contracted by preparing or eating food in the U.S., the CDC suggests hunters “practice good hygiene,” such as not harvesting dead animals or those that appear ill, wearing a mask and gloves while preparing game meat and checking with their state wildlife agency about testing requirements.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!