ArticlePLoS pathogens2025
Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer in Pennsylvania 2021-2024.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Emerging Viral Zoonotic Diseases, 2016-2026.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2026Pooled it
- A Qualitative Framework for Ranking the Relative Likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Between People and Felids at Zoological Interfaces.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Serological investigation of zoo animals: SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detected in a European moose and an Asian golden cat.One health outlook · 2026Article
- SARS-CoV-2 saltational events are recurrent and trace to persistent human infections.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Species- and variant-specific ACE2 compatibility shapes SARS-CoV-2 spillover potential in North American cervids.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Enhanced Isolation and Detection of COVID-19 in Hospitalized Patients Undergoing Antiviral Therapy.Emerging infectious diseases · 2026Article
- The coronaviral landscape across diverse mammalian species in the Northeastern United States.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The UniProt website API: facilitating programmatic access to protein knowledge.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Emergence of the BA.2.87.1 lineage of SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa, a highly diverged BA.2-related lineage.Virus evolution · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 continues to transmit and evolve in humans and animals. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have been previously identified as a zoonotic reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 with high rates of infection and probable spillback into humans. Here we report sampling 1,127 white-tailed deer (WTD) in Pennsylvania, and a genomic analysis of viral dynamics spanning 1,017 days between April 2021 and January 2024. To assess viral load and genotypes, RNA was isolated from retropharyngeal lymph nodes and analyzed using RT-qPCR and viral whole genome sequencing. Samples showed a 14.64% positivity rate by RT-qPCR. Analysis showed no association of SARS-CoV-2 prevalence with age, sex, or diagnosis with Chronic Wasting Disease. From the 165 SARS-CoV-2 positive WTD, we recovered 25 whole genome sequences and an additional 17 spike-targeted amplicon sequences. The viral variants identified included 17 Alpha, 11 Delta, and 14 Omicron. Alpha largely stopped circulating in humans around September 2021, but persisted in WTD as recently as March of 2023. Phylodynamic analysis of pooled genomic data from Pennsylvania documents at least 12 SARS-CoV-2 spillovers from humans into WTD, including a recent series of Omicron spillovers. Prevalence was higher in WTD in regions with crop coverage rather than forest, suggesting an association with proximity to humans. Analysis of seasonality showed increased prevalence in winter and spring. Multiple examples of recurrent mutations were identified associated with transmissions, suggesting WTD-specific evolutionary pressures. These data document ongoing infections in white-tailed deer, probable onward transmission in deer, and a remarkable rate of new spillovers from humans.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.