Deer, mink and hyenas have caught COVID-19 – animal virologists explain how to find the coronavirus in animals and why humans need to worry

White-tailed deer are one of the few wild species that scientists have found to be infected with the coronavirus – at least so far. Andrew C/WikimediaCommons, CC BY

In April 2020, tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo made the news when they came down with COVID-19. In the months following these surprising diagnoses, researchers and veterinarians found SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in nearly a dozen other species, both in captivity and in the wild.

How are so many animals catching the coronavirus? And what does this mean for human and animal health?