NYC rats can catch coronavirus

(CNN/KYMA, KECY) – Even sewer crawlers are not immune to a global pandemic.

Scientists say tests show that rodents can catch the coronavirus that causes covid-19.

Their study was published in the American Academy of Microbiology's Journal "M-Bio".

For their study, researchers captured 79 rats from three sites in Brooklyn and tested them for covid exposure.

They discovered antibodies against the virus in thirteen of them, suggesting the rats were infected at some point.

Testing showed the viruses that infected the rats were associated with a strain of covid that had been dominant in the city early during the pandemic.

The virus was not found in the sewage water, so scientists believe the rats may have been exposed to covid through the air.