COVID-19: Hamsters can infect humans with the coronavirus - study

 COVID-19: Hamsters can infect humans with the coronavirus - study

The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, can be transmitted from humans to hamsters and then be transferred back to humans, according to a new study.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has spread all over the world since it began in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. Millions of people have died due to the virus, which continues to rage throughout the world.

While the exact origins of the virus are under debate, it is widely thought that it spread from animals (specifically bats) to humans in what is known as zoonotic transmission. And according to this new study, published in The Lancet in pre-print and awaiting peer-review, hamsters are one such animal that can spread the virus to humans.