According to a recent study published on Thursday, wild rats can acquire COVID-19 mutations, raising the likelihood of secondary transmission to people.
According to a study published in the open-access journal mBio of the American Society of Microbiology, during the early stages of the pandemic, 16.5% of wild rats trapped in city parks and close to buildings in Brooklyn, New York, tested positive for the virus.
For virological research and genomic sequencing, biologists obtained and processed samples from 79 rats. They discovered evidence connecting the viruses circulating in humans with the viruses carried by rats.
Researchers ran a virus challenge investigation to examine the rats’ additional vulnerability to COVID-19 variations, and the results revealed that the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants can also result in infections.”Our findings underline the need for additional surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in rat populations for potential secondary zoonotic transmission to humans,” said Henry Wan, the study’s senior scientist, in a statement.
“Overall, our work in this area demonstrates that animals can contribute to pandemics that affect humans, and it’s important that we continue to deepen our understanding so we can safeguard both human and animal health,” said Wan, a professor and the director of the University of Missouri’s Center for Influenza and Emerging Infectious Diseases.
According to researchers, urban settings have a higher potential for animal-to-human contact. They said that there are over 8 million wild rats in New York City alone, with several opportunities for contact with people.
Release of the study after New York City reported last year a sharp increase in rat sightings despite a more stringent effort to lower their the population in the five boroughs.
That study, which compared right sightings from 2021 to 2020, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, said city staff record nearly 21,600 rodent complaints through the end of September, a 74% increase from the same time in 2020.
