According to new research, Delta became the dominant variant in humans, Alpha and Gamma continued to circulate in white-tailed deer.
About the study:
- The findings, which are based on samples collected through December 2021, provide more evidence that deer could be a reservoir of the virus and a potential source of future variants, which could spill back into human populations.
- The scale of the risk that infected deer pose to humans remains unclear.
- Genetic sequencing revealed that three different variants of concern — Alpha, Gamma and Delta — were all present in deer during the 2021 season