Omicron Found In Wild Deer Suggesting Potential New Variant

Omicron found in wild deer

Recently, Denmark announced that Covid-19 is no longer categorized as a “socially Critical Disease”.

This marks the first steps of lifting Covid-19 restrictions and sign that things may return to normal soon. However, it seems to us that the disease has something else planned for the upcoming future – like being detected in animals.

Here’s the update on the Omicron variant being found in wild deer.

Omicron detected in NYC deer

On 8th February 2022, Omicron was reportedly found in white-tailed deer in New York, USA, as published by Reuters.

Image credit: City of Dublin

The discovery has brought about concerns among researchers over the possibility of new variants which can potentially transfer to humans.

According to the study published on Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, it was found that 15% of the sampled wild deer were detected with the virus antibody.

Image credit: SciTechDaily

Research also suggested that the virus can be transmitted from one deer to another.

Furthermore, researchers revealed that contaminated water might be the main cause virus transmissions among deer, as reported by SciTechDaily.

Netizens share the potential cause of deer’s infection & measures

After the discovery was published online, many netizens shared their thoughts over the potential cause of the virus infection among deer and speculated how the US government could deal with the situation.

Screenshot: AP

Continue practicing proper hygiene

Whether there’s a high possibility for a new Covid-19 variant or not, all we can do is to always be ready for whatever that might come in the future and keep practicing proper hygiene by wearing face mask and washing our hands regularly.

At least, we can help reduce the daily number of Covid-19 cases, and one day, the world may look a little more like pre-2020.

Cover images adapted from (L-R): NewsWireNGR, SciTechDaily

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