The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is urging countries to implement risk management measures following recent findings showing a new strain of Covid-19 relating to the mink industry in Europe and the US.
The organisation has said that the risk of susceptible animals, such as mink, becoming a Covid-19 reservoir generates worldwide concern, as it could pose a continued public health risk and lead to future spillover to humans.
The OIE said: “While the Covid-19 pandemic is currently sustained through human-to-human transmission, there are concerns that the introduction and circulation of new virus strains in humans could result in modifications of transmissibility or virulence and decreased treatment and vaccine efficacy.
“Yet, the full consequences remain unknown, and further investigation is needed to fully understand the impact of these mutations.”
Risk measures
The world organisation said that close collaboration between animal and public health authorities is imperative to better identify and reduce the impact of the disease.
In a statement it said: “The OIE calls on countries to protect animal health and welfare, and consequently public health, by implementing effective risk management measures.
- Prevent the transmission of Covid-19 between humans and susceptible animals, by implementing national risk reduction strategies;
- Monitor susceptible animals, such as mink and racoon dogs, as well as humans in close contact with them, for Covid-19 infection adopting a One Health approach. Active monitoring is recommended as it might be difficult to detect early infections in these animals, especially mink;
- Report animal cases to the OIE through the World Animal Health Information System;
- Share genetic sequences of Covid-19 viruses isolated from animals and other research findings with the global health community.
Guidelines
To support countries in the implementation of these measures, the OIE has developed guidelines for people working with susceptible farmed animals, as well as with wild mammals in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The OIE said it will continue to engage with its members, experts and partners – notably the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to update technical guidance as new scientific findings and information become available.
Meanwhile, an immediate ban on mink farming in Ireland has been called for by the Social Democrats.
Deputy Jennifer Whitmore, the party’s spokesperson for Climate Action and Biodiversity, said:
There have always been ethical and environmental reasons to ban mink farming.
“However, now that a Covid-19 variant has been detected on mink farms in six countries, we need to act urgently to ban this practice on public health grounds.”