I bet animals have always had some type of the COVID virus but I haven't seed anyone come out and say it is the same variant that humans get.Several things I can tell you are I have never loaded a vaccinated patient in an ambulance and I have loaded quite a few unvaccinated on an ambulance and several of those never came home.I don't know anyone that is vaccinated be hospitalized or has died.I know some have but it's alot smaller % than what the other option is
What will the impact be now that whitetail deer are confirmed carriers of Covid.
- Thread starter Super55
- Start date
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
The current believe by the folks studying it at PSU is that deer likely got COVID from humans. They are still working out the details. They took samples that were originally collected for CWD and tested them for COVID. I believe the samples were from Iowa. It was pretty amazing to watch how fast it spread through the wild populations. So far, they've seen no adverse symptoms in deer from COVID-19 in deer. As I mentioned in a previous post, while the primary transmission vector is airborne, that is not the only way for it to be transmitted. The speculation (not proven) by the scientists is that some infected human discarded food with the virus present that was eaten by a deer before the virus died. Once a single deer was infected, it then spread airborne from deer to deer.
While I doubt we will see COVID moving from shot deer to hunters, I'm sure it is possible. The chances of human-human spread are so much greater, I doubt if there will be enough data regarding precautions, if any, that should be taken when processing deer.
I think as others have mentioned if it is in the deer herd they probably by now have acquired some level of natural immunity. CDC even did a study and stated that if you had acquired even the milder omicron variant that immunity levels were even slightly better then getting 3x vac. against all variants. The one thing about this illness is that it is significantly more dangerous to the older population especially if there is a pre-existing medical condition. Perhaps this is why the deer population tolerates it so well because they typically don't age to the point of being high risk.
I'm going to try and look at possible oppurtunities from this. Maybe the gov. will issue us dart guns. We can hone our shooting skills and vaccinate the herd at the same time. Laugh but Quebec had a curfew from 10pm to 5am because it's more dangerous apparently at night. Michigan closed off boat launches initially because Covid likes to go fishing. They also initially sectioned off parts of HD and Lowes because if you were going to paint a room or plant a garden you were somehow more at risk. So when it comes to new outlandish mandates I don't think anything would surprise me anymore.
I'm going to try and look at possible oppurtunities from this. Maybe the gov. will issue us dart guns. We can hone our shooting skills and vaccinate the herd at the same time. Laugh but Quebec had a curfew from 10pm to 5am because it's more dangerous apparently at night. Michigan closed off boat launches initially because Covid likes to go fishing. They also initially sectioned off parts of HD and Lowes because if you were going to paint a room or plant a garden you were somehow more at risk. So when it comes to new outlandish mandates I don't think anything would surprise me anymore.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
That is the current thinking. Time are research will tell for sure. Just based on timing of when it hit the human population significantly before we see the big spread in the deer population suggests that humans contract it first. However, we don't know for sure how the deer population as infected.
By the way, it is much more common that folks living together with close personal contact who are not taking precautions do pass the disease to their partner than cases where they don't. Symptoms from the disease vary quite a bit. Many folks have contracted the disease thinking it was a mild cold for flu. Without detailed lab testing, unless folks happened to get tested when they have an active case, they don't really know if they had it or not. That can easily explain how folks living together may not appear to transmit to one another. One person got exposed, have few if any symptoms and carried a low viral load that was enough to trigger an immune response. With little if any symptoms, they were likely much less infectious. Later when the partner did get a significant symptomatic infection they had a level of immune protection. It is hard to take anecdotal experiences and apply them as the typical case.
It doesn't appear that it has been in the deer population long enough for "natural immunity" to be the case, if by that you mean their immune systems have been exposed, recognize the specific virus, and are attacking it sufficiently before they become symptomatic. It is much more likely that COVID-19 simply affects different species differently as do many viruses. The researchers are saying they are not currently seeing significant adverse symptoms in deer.
Thanks,
Jack
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
As long as we are speculating.....I wonder if covid is what happened to the Passenger Pigeons in time gone by? Maybe the Spotted Owl.....Jack Rabbits.....and Sharptail Grouse?...for starters. I suppose we could get some grant money from the Fed to study the demise of such species? Put Art Fuchi in charge. Grin. ;).
At some point any of these theories and speculations just contribute to the mass hysteria going on in this country.
What a fascinating thread. First the incredible all pervasive International attention to covid in humans with the preponderance of the discussion to response being the need for vaccine, booster and medical/pharmaceutical intervention. Now, covid in deer...when does it stop? Without argument when covid was first detected in humans there were far more unknowns than knowns. not so true anymore.
Curiously, at the same time there is a tremendous historical proven verifiable scientific data base concluding beyond a shadow of doubt the power of a healthy human immune system to thwart , or at the least minimize viruses and disease including the latest ' pandemic ' of covid. Seems the biggest problem with covid is the deplorable state of human health [ hence compromised immune response ] in civilized society. A simple look at the statistics verify this. Yet how much discussion is held on improving human health vs. get the shot save the world?
And now deer. Could the same be true? Focus on creating the healthiest deer possible and the effects of disease are minimized to a rounding error?
Beyond all the noise that is my strategy for both myself and the animals I am privilege to be the steward of.
Curiously, at the same time there is a tremendous historical proven verifiable scientific data base concluding beyond a shadow of doubt the power of a healthy human immune system to thwart , or at the least minimize viruses and disease including the latest ' pandemic ' of covid. Seems the biggest problem with covid is the deplorable state of human health [ hence compromised immune response ] in civilized society. A simple look at the statistics verify this. Yet how much discussion is held on improving human health vs. get the shot save the world?
And now deer. Could the same be true? Focus on creating the healthiest deer possible and the effects of disease are minimized to a rounding error?
Beyond all the noise that is my strategy for both myself and the animals I am privilege to be the steward of.
chucker66
5 year old buck +
Here here. I am going to open up a deer gym up on my place so these fat deer can get in shape. I probably need a business plan and maybe a few grants from the government. Who wants to partner up? I get all the gyms in Wisconsin so I need some one from Minnesota.
Excellent idea! The benefits of intelligent exercise on the immune system are well understood. This is the type creative thinking that this delima with our deer deserves. Word of caution though. From what I have seen from the DNR in some areas they may use such single source concentration as an opportunity to exterminate all the deer in an effort to ensure their health and stop transmission of the virus.
Don't overlook a nutrition bar or such as a compliment to your gym. Nutrient dense foods available year round are critical link for both deer and humans to effectively protect against viruses and other health maladies. Be thoughtful about pelleted supplementation though as while it has proven extraordinarily effective at enhancing the health of deer all over the country there is risk equivalent to over consumption of water. Nonetheless, there is always a lawyer somewhere that can make that a liability issue.
They found covid in the water of the Great Lakes back in 2020. It's a virus, it's everywhere
www.minnpost.com
Researchers: Virus that causes COVID-19 found in Lake Superior beach water - MinnPost
Plus: Extensive investigation of the Lois Reiss case; no positive COVID-19 tests for the Vikings; Trump and Biden battle for Range voters; DJ with ties to Rep. Hagedorn taken off the air; 115-pound cougar killed by a vehicle in Bloomington; and more.
www.minnpost.com
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
They found covid in the water of the Great Lakes back in 2020. It's a virus, it's everywhere
Researchers: Virus that causes COVID-19 found in Lake Superior beach water - MinnPost
Plus: Extensive investigation of the Lois Reiss case; no positive COVID-19 tests for the Vikings; Trump and Biden battle for Range voters; DJ with ties to Rep. Hagedorn taken off the air; 115-pound cougar killed by a vehicle in Bloomington; and more.
Rumor has it that it was also detected in a lab as far away as China....
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Bill
Administrator
No No, 2.0 is on the way and little Dr fucky is still saying they work.
T-Max
5 year old buck +
Well, they do work. End of story. I know so because my government told me so. They always have my best interest in mind.
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b116757
5 year old buck +
This must be the jokes thread you guys are funnyWell, they do work. End of story. I know so because my government told me so. They always have my best interest in mind.
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If you shop around hard enough you can find bullets that say "phizer" instead of nozzler. If you have those you are good to go.