Results from a study by the Ohio State University showed that white-tailed deer in Ohio have been infected with COVID-19, and variants of the virus evolve nearly three times as fast as in humans. Scientists collected more than 1,500 nasal swabs from free-ranging deer in 83 counties in 2021 and 2022. Of these samples, more than 10% came back positive for the COVID-19 virus, and at least one positive case was found in 59% of the counties where the study took place. Some had the antibodies, meaning they had been infected at some point.