Fig. 6: Hypothetical zoonoses and evolution of the B.1.641 lineage.
From: Divergent SARS-CoV-2 variant emerges in white-tailed deer with deer-to-human transmission
The timeline and approximate relationship between the Beta VOC (bold), Iota/Epsilon former VUIs, and viral samples in white-tailed deer, humans and mink from both Michigan (green) and Ontario (orange) are displayed. As it likely emerged during one of the indicated poorly sampled periods of viral evolution, it is unclear whether the viral ancestor of B.1.641 was from an unknown animal (for example, mink, white-tailed deer or other species) or human reservoir. From this ancestor, there was either a spillback transmission from deer to human (scenario 1) or the emergence of a virus infecting both human and deer (scenario 2).
