Quote:
Originally Posted by blueash
Hantavirus and plague are not the same. One is a virus, and like almost all viruses there is no "antidote". Plague is a bacterial disease and is effectively treated with antibiotics if recognized.
Both illnesses have rodents as their hosts and are mostly found in western states.
And on topic, the spread to deer of Covid could make it more difficult to control. Covid has shown itself to spread easily and to mutate frequently. All our vaccines available to date target specific characteristics of the unique spike protein, and they do a great job of that. However, with billions of copies of Covid being reproduced there will be more mutations. Most mutations are of no evolutionary advantage. Some however produce a change which alters the virus in a way that may make it more contagious or reproduce more efficiently, or of greatest concern, alter the structure of the spike protein in a way that the antibodies induced by the vaccine, or previous natural infection, make the new virus unrecognized.
We will see the vaccine industry working hard to manufacture updated products to keep up with alterations in the circulating variants. If you want to worry, read about the lambda variant. It is too soon for a definitive scientific statement, but early reports suggest it produces a spike protein that is significantly resistant to the vaccine. Hopefully those early reports will be wrong.
The other take home message is that Covid is entirely able to mutate to have new pathological types on its own in animals whether humans, or deer, or bats or pangolins.
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How about a civet cat? I'm just being snarky!
Thanks for the clarification about the Hantavirus. I recall several cases of that in Colorado and New Mexico, as you said, transmitted by mice. I think the Hantavirus can be serious or even deadly if not diagnosed properly.