New Evidence Of Covid Transmission From Deer To Humans — And Back
CBS News and CIDRAP report on research showing that Americans have passed covid to white-tailed deer hundreds of times, while deer have transmitted mutated versions of the virus back to people on at least three occasions. Other pandemic news is on Maine's vaccine mandate and the origins of the virus.
CBS News:
Deer Spread COVID To Humans Multiple Times, New Research Suggests
Americans have transmitted COVID-19 to wild deer hundreds of times, an analysis of thousands of samples collected from the animals suggests, and people have also caught and spread mutated variants from deer at least three times. The analysis published Monday stems from the first year of a multiyear federal effort to study the virus as it has spread into American wildlife, spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS. (Tin, 7/11)
CIDRAP:
Report Details COVID-19 Spillover Events In White-Tailed Deer
Of the 109 spillover events, 106 were within the same state, including 64 that were human-to-deer, 39 that were human-to-deer-to-deer, and 3 human-to-deer-to-human. (Soucheray, 7/11)
More on the spread of covid —
Bangor Daily News:
Maine Eyes End To COVID-19 Vaccinate Mandate For Health Workers
Health care workers would no longer need to receive the COVID-19 vaccine under a proposed change from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. The department filed a proposed rule change Tuesday with the secretary of state’s office that would remove the COVID-19 vaccine from the list of required immunizations for workers in health care facilities. (Kobin, 7/11)
On the origins of covid —
Science:
Politicians, Scientists Spar Over Alleged NIH Cover-Up Using COVID-19 Origin Paper
Two scientists who are coauthors of a 3-year-old article on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic faced down Republican lawmakers today in what might be the most in-depth discussion ever of a scientific paper in the halls of the U.S. Congress. At a House subcommittee hearing, the Republicans asserted that top officials at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) prompted the researchers to write the paper to try and “kill” the theory that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. (Cohen, 7/11)
CNN:
Scientists At House Hearing Refute Claims They Were Bribed And Influenced To Deny Covid-19 ‘Lab Leak’ Theory
Democrats on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic said they aimed to use a hearing Tuesday to set the record straight on Republicans’ claims that Drs. Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins steered scientists investigating the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic away from the idea that the virus was created in a lab in Wuhan, China. (Goodman, 7/11)
