Wait, Michigan Deer Are Testing Positive for COVID-19 Antibodies?
What has arguably been one of the weirdest times of our lives just got a whole lot weirder...though officials say we don't need to worry.
Yes, Michigan Deer Have COVID Antibodies
According to Bridge Michigan, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently did a study where there were 113 deer in Michigan sampled. They found that over 60 percent of those Michigan deer had COVID antibodies in their blood.
Now it is worth mentioning in the study they did clarify that when the antibodies are detected, it does not necessarily mean current infection. It just means the deer's bodies were creating immune responses when they came into contact with it.
Transmission Between Deer and Humans?
So how did these deer get into this mess?
Well, the USDA-APHIS study said they are really not able to pinpoint just HOW these deer were exposed but they do say, "It’s possible they were exposed through people, the environment, other deer, or another animal species."
As far as being able to transmit the virus now from them to people, the study says there is actually no evidence of animals (deer included) play a role in spreading COVID-19 to people so we can rest easy there.
They note there is also no evidence of being able to contract COVID-19 by eating meat from an animal that had been infected with the virus so you can still eat your venison without worrying...as long as you follow your usual processing and food preparing safety guidelines!
So We're Good?
While it may be a bit concerning considering how many dang deer we have running around here in Michigan, as the evidence currently suggests, yeah, we're good!
If you think about it, though, from just a scientific perspective, it is pretty fascinating how this happened...just don't think about it too hard because it's definitely not good if you think how this would play out in the zombie apocalypse.
On that note, watch out for deer!
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