Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Aug;30(8):1609-1620. doi: 10.3201/eid3008.231056.
SARS-CoV-2 can infect wildlife, and SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern might expand into novel animal reservoirs, potentially by reverse zoonosis. White-tailed deer and mule deer of North America are the only deer species in which SARS-CoV-2 has been documented, raising the question of whether other reservoir species exist. We report cases of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in a fallow deer population located in Dublin, Ireland. Sampled deer were seronegative in 2020 when the Alpha variant was circulating in humans, 1 deer was seropositive for the Delta variant in 2021, and 12/21 (57%) sampled deer were seropositive for the Omicron variant in 2022, suggesting host tropism expansion as new variants emerged in humans. Omicron BA.1 was capable of infecting fallow deer lung type-2 pneumocytes and type-1-like pneumocytes or endothelial cells ex vivo. Ongoing surveillance to identify novel SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs is needed to prevent public health risks during human-animal interactions in periurban settings.
SARS-CoV-2 可感染野生动物，且引发关注的 SARS-CoV-2 变异株可能会扩展到新的动物宿主中，这很可能是通过反向人畜共患病（reverse zoonosis）实现的。北美白尾鹿和骡鹿是目前唯一有记录表明感染过 SARS-CoV-2 的鹿种，这引发了人们对于是否存在其他宿主物种的疑问。我们报告了爱尔兰都柏林地区一个黇鹿种群中 SARS-CoV-2 血清阳性的案例。2020 年，当 Alpha 变异株在人群中传播时，采样鹿呈血清阴性；2021 年，1 只鹿对 Delta 变异株呈血清阳性；2022 年，21 只鹿中有 12 只（57%）对奥密克戎变异株呈血清阳性，这表明随着新变异株在人群中出现，宿主嗜性有所扩展。奥密克戎 BA.1 能够感染黇鹿的肺 2 型肺泡细胞和 1 型样肺泡细胞或内皮细胞。需要对新型 SARS-CoV-2 宿主进行持续监测，以预防在城市周边环境中人类与动物相互作用时产生的公共卫生风险。
