Study: Covid-19 might be present in millions of NYC rats.

(RT) ⸻ Researchers with the University of Missouri have found that the iconic rats infesting New York City are susceptible to infection by multiple strains of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Their study, published in the journal mBio, showed that 13 of 79 rats tested positive for the virus, a figure that can be extrapolated to potentially 1.3 million of the city's 8 million rats. The researchers found that the rats were infected with Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants of the virus in both their upper and lower respiratory tracts, and that the virus mutated after infecting them to adapt to its new hosts. The findings highlight the need for further monitoring of rat populations for potential secondary zoonotic transmission to humans. Rats are vulnerable to the virus that causes Covid-19, and some 17 million mink were preemptively exterminated in Denmark in 2020. Hong Kong ordered the culling of 2,000 imported hamsters after a resident's infection was traced to his handling them in a pet shop. The UK government nearly ordered the mass extermination of residents' pet cats after a Siamese was found to have contracted the virus in 2020. However, the World Health Organization's own investigation found it "extremely unlikely" the Wuhan lab was the source of the outbreak.