How the new mutations arise is still unknown. The editorial network Germany refers to several studies that suspect that variants can arise in immunocompromised people. Others see changes in animal hosts, such as mink, which are then transmitted to humans.
Canadian scientists documented in an investigation in the preprint server “Biorxiv”: According to them, the virus mutated in wild North American white-tailed deer and is said to have been transmitted back to a human at least once. The deer are believed to have been infected by humans, possibly in search of food.
There are nearly 30 million deer in the United States and a few million in Canada. Even if the disease is mild in them, they can transmit the virus to other animals. Since they are also sociable animals and can migrate up to a hundred kilometers, they can contribute greatly to dispersal. There is now more and more evidence that the corona virus can change particularly well among deer: Genetic analyzes have shown that the virus had mutated 76 times compared to the original corona variant from Wuhan, China.
