NOVOSIBIRSK, July 16. / TASS /. Minks, which people breed on farms, need to be vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, since animals become infected with it, get sick and can infect fur farm personnel. This opinion was expressed to TASS by the head of the laboratory of bionanotechnology, microbiology and virology of the Novosibirsk State University (NSU), corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Netesov.
According to scientists, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the causative agent of the COVID-19 disease, is capable of infecting not only humans, but also some mammals. These, as shown by the results of experiments by virologists and observations of veterinarians, include minks, ferrets and cats, in which the infection causes a disease similar to that of a human.
“The situation with minks is very difficult. If a mink gets sick, it can infect personnel on a fur farm, as was shown in Denmark last spring. spread of infection “, – noted Netesov.
The scientist explained that active infection with mink coronavirus has already been observed in Denmark and some other countries. According to Danish media reports, the government of the kingdom made a decision on November 4 last year to destroy all 17 million minks on fur farms due to the risk of human infection with coronavirus. At the end of December, a law was passed banning mink breeding in the country until December 31, 2021, because the coronavirus was spreading rapidly on mink farms.
The vaccine “Carnivac-Cove” is the world's only registered prophylactic drug against COVID-19 for animals. The work on the creation of this vaccine was carried out at the expense of the FGBI “ARRIAH” within the framework of the internal theme of research work “Veterinary Wellbeing”.
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