More than 16.5% of New York City gray mice have recently been infected with SARS-CoV-2. From this informs TASS with reference to the American Society for Microbiology.
Scientists have long realized that the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 can multiply in the body of not only humans but also animals. In particular, such animals include macaques, ferrets and domestic cats – the virus has almost the same negative effect on cats as it does on humans. According to a recent study, about 10% of French domestic cats have coronavirus.
Now Wan Xiufeng and colleagues have found that the virus can be found in gray mice (Rattus norvegicus), animal companions of humans. This was found when more than 80 animals caught in New York City were examined in 2021. The study’s authors examined blood samples, including trying to find traces of the SARS-CoV-2 genome and antibodies to the virus.
As it turned out, a significant part of the rats, 13 (16.5%) at the same time, were carriers of antibodies to different variants of the coronavirus. In addition, scientists found fragments of the virus’s RNA in blood samples taken from four animals from different parts of the city. This discovery prompted scientists to investigate in the laboratory whether the virus could enter the body of mice. Their experiments confirmed that alpha, delta and omycron strains infect rodents very frequently, actively multiplying in their respiratory systems and producing large numbers of viable SARS-CoV-2 particles. At the same time, scientists discovered that the first variations of the coronavirus were significantly inferior in this respect to the new strains; this may explain why many biologists in the past believed that rats did not, or very rarely, catch COVID-19. .
From this, scientists conclude that city mice can be a major reservoir for the preservation and gradual mutation of the virus. This should be taken into account by the sanitary services to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.
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