Virginia’s Wildlife Infected With COVID-19: Human Hikers To Blame, Researchers Say

A new study published on Friday uncovered multiple instances of humans transmitting COVID-19 to various wildlife species in Virginia. Researchers sampled 23 species between May 2022 and September 2023 across Virginia and Washington, D.C. They detected COVID-19 in six species: The deer mouse, Virginia opossum, raccoon, groundhog, Eastern cottontail and Eastern red bat, according to the report. This is a significant study given that previous documented infections were found in captive animals but only one wildlife species, the white-tailed deer. Areas with high human activity exhibit three times the level...