New York City rats may be carrying pizza

New York City rats may be renowned for carrying pizza through the subway, but according to a new study, they can also carry the disease behind Covid - 19, according to a new study.

New York rats are susceptible to three variants of Covid, according to a study published on Thursday in mBio, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

Animal-to-human transmission of Covid 19 is rare, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC.

The CDC notes on its website that animals play a significant role in spreading SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid 19, to people.

In the New York study, researchers conducted virological studies and genomic sequencing on samples from 79 rats.

They trapped rats mostly in parks in Brooklyn and the New York City parks department s permission, particularly in and around locations surrounding the wastewater systems. 13 of the rats studied tested positive for Covid - 19 The researchers then conducted a virus challenge study and found that Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants caused infections in Sprague Dawley rats.

The authors of the study wrote that animals can play a role in the pandemics that affect humans, and it is important that we increase our understanding so we can protect human and animal health.