Covid has also been detected previously in mammals similar to otters, but testing suggests that pigs and chickens are “non-susceptible”.
The researchers also noted a single US Government report of an Asian small-clawed otter contracting the virus in an aquarium in Georgia, as well as reports of white-tailed deer in the wild near Denver.
They said: “The infection of wild animals is of concern, as it may escape monitoring, with the possibility of viral evolution and re-entry into the human population from wild animal reservoirs.
“This is illustrated in the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic toward mice infectiousness, leading to the hypothesis of a mice origin of the omicron variant.”
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source: express.co.uk