Covid, according to a study published in the journal mBio, the millions of mice that populate the streets of New York City could pose a threat, as a vehicle of Covid. While the passage of the virus from animals to humans has never been verified, researchers have found that rodents are highly sensitive to the virus and all its variants. The team behind the study looked at 79 rats in the fall of 2021, found mostly in Brooklyn parks, and thirteen of them (16.5%) tested positive. Expanding the positivity rate to the entire rodent population New York (about 8 million), the researchers speculated that about 1.3 million mice could be infected. What worries scientists is that rodents can not only infect people but that they can become a vehicle for the development of new variants. However, Professor Wan warned that more studies are needed to understand what threat rodents pose to the development of new mutations and to humans.
Bythos variant of Covid, the first cases in Italy. What we know and why WHO considers it a threat
Lineker suspended from the BBC after Sunak-Nazi government comparison: the solidarity of colleagues
— The Messenger (@ilmessaggeroit) March 11, 2023
Covid in mice, possible passage to humans?
The study was initiated in the fall of 2021, when “the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service collected gray rat (Rattus norvegicus) specimens in New York to look for evidence of SarsCoV2 infection” , explains in a note one of the authors of the study, Tom DeLiberto. The tests performed by the researchers found that, of the 79 animals analyzed, 13 had antibodies that demonstrated an infection with SarsCov2: in 9 of them it was a past infection, while in 4 it was still ongoing. Molecular tests performed on the latter showed that the infection was caused by a strain of virus that had spread in the US about a year earlier. However, the animals were also potentially susceptible to the Delta and Omicron variants. The researchers’ concern is that the virus could circulate silently in rats and then return, perhaps in a mutated form, to humans. “Our results highlight the need for further monitoring of SarsCoV2 in rat populations to determine whether the virus is circulating in animals and evolving into new strains that could pose a risk to humans,” says study first signatory Yang Wang. “The SarsCov2 virus represents a typical ‘One Health’ challenge that requires collaborative, multisectoral and transdisciplinary approaches to be fully understood,” he concludes.
How to take care of the brain and keep it young. Maira: «No to excesses and laziness»