COVID-19: Need to worry about animals?

● Avoid eating raw and undercooked foods (meat, eggs, milk) of animal origin to reduce exposure to all viruses and other foodborne pathogens.

● Before and after cooking, meat should always be stored in a way that cannot contaminate other foods or recontaminate after cooking.

● Keep the environment and all equipment, tools and surfaces clean.

o Virus from contaminated products can infect up to 9 days when contacting an object or surface.

o Most viruses, including coronaviruses, can be destroyed and removed using the most common disinfectants and disinfectants used in food processing.

● Personal hygiene is essential to food safety, and sick people should avoid handling food.

o Good hygiene practices are especially important when dealing with fresh foods that can be consumed raw, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, and ready-to-use foods that are consumed without further heat treatment.

● Do not eat raw wild meat or uncooked dishes based on the blood of wild animals.

Appropriate slaughter techniques are required to minimize food safety risks.

● A damp market where live animals are bred, slaughtered and dressed poses certain risks for transmission of the pathogen to both workers and customers. These areas should be cleaned regularly to reduce the risk of transmission. Care must be taken during the stunning, hair loss, hair loss, skin removal and visceral removal steps to minimize contamination.

● Do not process, slaughter, dress, sell, prepare, or consume animal proteins that have sickened or killed wild animals or livestock for unknown reasons. These practices put people at increased risk of getting an infection.

● Unusual animal morbidity or mortality must be reported to the animal health authorities.

Overall, it is necessary to ensure that good food safety and hygiene practices are followed.

Are people who consume bats, bushmeat, and other wildlife at risk for COVID-19?

When eating wildlife, follow good food safety and hygiene practices (outlined above). Do not eat meat or products from sick animals or eat raw wild meat or uncooked organs or tissues.

Importantly, the legitimate consumption of wildlife is safe if safe food handling and cooking practices are followed.

However, it is wise to stop eating bats from a health perspective and as many zoonotic pathogens have appeared in bats. Bats are so resistant to viruses that they have a much higher proportion of zoonotic pathogens than other wildlife. Also, many bat species are threatened or endangered, excluding them from hunting restrictions and making their use as food sources illegal.

What about a “wet market”? Do they pose a threat?

“Fresh markets” (markets selling raw meat, fish and live animals) are considered important areas where humans, wildlife and livestock can be flooded with pathogens. The proximity of live animals in these markets allows the exchange of pathogens between wildlife and livestock species, which can evolve into new strains of virus that infect humans and livestock. However, this must be confirmed by scientific evidence.

To reduce the risk of zoonotic diseases, FAO recommends that: ensure good hygiene and food safety practices, implement international animal welfare standards, trade wildlife domestically and internationally, and Implementation of proper management of the sale of wild meat at wildlife markets cities and towns.

What is the role of the veterinarian during this time?

It is important to ensure that veterinary services are reassured to anyone who can safely raise, raise, maintain, and care for pets, draft animals, and livestock, and that it is important that veterinarians maintain activity during lockdown (e.g., surveillance , Vaccinations, outbreak investigations) disease cases, basic veterinary care, border controls, etc.).

Veterinary authorities also contacted the Ministry of Health and Forestry, Natural Resources or Wildlife and maintained close contact to use consistent and appropriate interventions and investigations, risk communication messages, and the One Health approach You need to ensure risk management. At the border, effective biosecurity risk management and cooperation with testing authorities must be maintained.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus in animals, including species information, diagnostic tests, and related epidemiological information, must be reported to the World Animal Health Organization (OIE).

How did FAO support this work area?

As part of its mission, FAO will use the One Health approach to work closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) to prevent, prepare, and detect priority pathogens in animals. Adjust. This approach is a unifying force for protecting human and animal health, reducing the threat of disease and ensuring safe food supplies.

For COVID-19, FAO has activated an incident coordination group. It regularly connects global, regional and national partners and ensures global coordination of disease activities and communication in terms of animal health and livelihood resilience.

We work with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to fund research and training across animal lab networks, using nuclear technology to detect the possible presence of viruses in animals and the environment. I am. The resulting scientific evidence weapon will help you manage your pandemic in the most effective way. Preventing COVID-19 from disrupting aquatic and terrestrial animal production due to human pandemics is of paramount importance to FAO. To that end, the organization provides guidelines to farmers and animal health workers.