CHICAGO—The U.S. government said on Friday it had confirmed the world’s first cases of COVID-19 in deer, expanding the list of animals known to have tested positive for the disease. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported infections of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in wild white-tailed deer in the state of Ohio, according to a statement. There were no reports of deer showing symptoms of infection, the USDA said. “We do not know how the deer were exposed to SARS-CoV-2,” USDA spokeswoman Lyndsay Cole wrote in an e-mail to Reuters. “It’s possible they were exposed through people, the environment, other deer, or another animal species.” The USDA has previously reported COVID-19 in animals including dogs, cats, tigers, lions, snow leopards, otters, gorillas, and minks. Worldwide, most animal infections were reported in species that had close contact with a person with COVID-19, according to the agency. The USDA reported last …