VOA健康报道2022 纽约白尾鹿感染新冠病毒奥密克戎变种（在线收听）

American researchers say they tested a group of deer in New York City and found that some of them were infected with the Omicron version of COVID-19.

美国研究人员对纽约市的一群鹿进行了检测，发现其中一些鹿感染了奥密克戎版本的新冠病毒。

The highly infectious version, or variant, was identified in the white-tailed deer population on the city's Staten Island. The Omicron variant was found in seven of the 68 deer tested between December 13 and January 31.

这种高传染性的新冠病毒变种在该市史坦顿岛的白尾鹿种群中被发现。在12月13日到1月31日期间检测的68只鹿中，有7只发现了奥密克戎变种。

The results are reported in a study carried out by researchers at Penn State University in Pennsylvania. The study was financed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

宾夕法尼亚州立大学的研究人员在一项研究中报告了这一结果。该研究由美国农业部资助。

Earlier COVID-19 variants were also found in white-tailed deer in New York and several other U.S. states. But the Staten Island study is the first to find evidence of the Omicron variant in deer or any other animal population, said Suresh Kuchipudi. He is a professor of virology at Penn State who led the research team.

在纽约和美国其它几个州的白尾鹿中也发现了较早版本的新冠病毒变种。但是苏列斯·库奇普蒂表示，史坦顿岛的研究是首次在鹿或其它任何动物种群中发现奥密克戎变种的证据。他是宾夕法尼亚州立大学负责领导该研究团队的病毒学教授。

Kuchipudi told The Associated Press the finding "opened up the possibility that, like the previous variants, Omicron can and has spilled over into animals." He added that for this reason, the presence of COVID-19 in animal populations needs to be closely watched.

库奇普蒂对美联社表示，这一发现“揭示了一种可能性，即奥密克戎跟之前的变种一样，可以并且已经传播到动物身上。”他还表示，由于这个原因，需要密切关注新冠病毒在动物种群中的存在。

Kuchipudi added that the spillover of Omicron from humans to deer suggests the possibly that vaccine-resistant versions of the virus could mutate and spread in non-humans.

库奇普蒂还表示，奥密克戎从人类蔓延到鹿，表明该病毒的抗疫苗版本可能会发生变异并在非人类中传播。

"When the virus completely mutates, then it can escape the protection of the current vaccine," Kuchipudi said. "So, we'd have to change the vaccine again."

库奇普蒂表示：“当这种病毒完全变异时，它就可以逃脱当前疫苗的防护，所以我们不得不再次更换疫苗。”

The researchers also reported that nearly 15 percent of the 131 deer captured on Staten Island had COVID-19 antibodies. This finding suggests that the animals had past coronavirus infections, and they were reinfected with new variants.

研究人员还报告称，在史坦顿岛捕获的131头鹿中，有接近15%的鹿具有新冠病毒抗体。这一发现表明这些动物过去曾经感染过新冠病毒，并且再次感染了这种新变种。

In August, the USDA said it found the world's first cases of COVID-19 in wild deer in Ohio. This expanded the list of animals known to have been infected with the sickness. The information was based on findings collected months before Omicron became the most dominant variant found in human populations around the world.

去年8月，美国农业部称其在俄亥俄州的野鹿中发现了全球首例新冠肺炎病例。这扩大了已知感染这种疾病的动物名单。该信息是基于在奥秘克戎成为世界各地人口中发现的最主要变种前几个月收集的研究结果。

So far, the USDA has reported COVID-19 in animals including dogs, cats, tigers, lions, snow leopards, otters, gorillas and minks.

到目前为止，美国农业部已经在包括狗、猫、老虎、狮子、雪豹、水獭、大猩猩和水貂在内的动物中报告了新冠病毒。