Scientists found rats infected with COVID-19 in New York – study
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A new study has found that New York City’s feral rats, which live in sewers and subways, are not immune to COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 virus was found in them, in particular the Alpha, Delta and Omicron strains, the Journal of the American Academy of Microbiology says. “Our results emphasize the need for further monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in urban rat populations and assessment of the potential risk of secondary zoonotic transmission from these rat populations back to humans,” the study authors write. Rats are widespread in urban communities in the United States. For example, New York alone is home to approximately eight million wild rats. Photo: gdolgikh/Depositphotos The team set two traps near locations around sewer systems and caught 79 rats from three locations in and around urban parks in Brooklyn in the fall of 2021. 13 rats (i.e. 16%) tested positive for COVID-19. Scientists used genomic analysis to determine a possible link to viruses that circulated among people in the early stages of the pandemic. This confirmed their hypothesis that rodents can provoke outbreaks of infections in large cities. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the risk of transmission of COVID-19 to humans from animals is not high. But the results of this study emphasize the need to control the situation. “Overall, our work in this space shows that animals can play a role in pandemics that affect humans, and it is important that we continue to improve our understanding so that we can protect human and animal health,” said researcher Dr. Wang . Read also: WHO continues to work on determining the origin of COVID-19
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