Thirteen of 79 Norway rats trapped in city parks or near buildings in Brooklyn, N.Y., in autumn 2021 had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, suggesting the animal had been infected at some point, whether through airborne transmission or through contact with contaminated fomites such as food waste, researchers reported in mBio. There is no evidence that rats can transmit the virus to people, but the findings are a reminder that “we did a good job of passing it on to other species, and they may be maintaining it,” said veterinarian J. Scott Weese, director of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses at the University of Guelph.
