On August 18, the Valdai Club held an expert discussion, titled “Coronavirus for Animals: How to Avoid a New Pandemic?”
Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has exerted intense pressure on the global economy. The emergence of vaccines has brought positive expectations, however, according to experts, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has not yet fully realised its pathogenic potential. The emergence of Variants of Concern is a clear indication that the virus is actively evolving. In addition, the World Health Organisation has already confirmed that humans can infect dogs, cats, and farm animals with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Earlier, coronavirus infections were detected in pets in Italy and Mexico. Dogs and cats have been infected several times in Argentina. This evidence allows us to raise the question of whether domestic and farm animals can become a reservoir for the further evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and, subsequently, a source of secondary infection threatening humans.
In addition to the obvious biological risks, one cannot fail to note the economic factor. The impact of COVID-19 on the agro-industrial complex was expressed, first of all, in the need to restructure all production and support processes so as to prevent coronavirus infection and the infection of employees at enterprises, with the introduction of monitoring systems and early detection systems, as well as the timely vaccination of employees in order to maintain uninterrupted work. Enterprises bear additional costs for non-specific preventive measures (disinfection, protective equipment for employees, etc.).
A significant contribution to solving this situation could be the widespread introduction of the world's first vaccine against COVID-19 for animals, which was registered in Russia on March 31. The Ministry of Agriculture has already announced the start of a vaccination campaign.
Will the new vaccine for animals experience global demand? How should the agro business market be restructured to accommodate the development and implementation of new and effective post-Covid countermeasures? These and other questions were answered by the discussion’s participants.
Speakers:
- Alexander Butenko, head of the department of arboviruses and laboratory of biology and indication of arboviruses, Gamaleya Federal Reasearch Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology
- Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Liaison Office with the Russian Federation
- Nikita Lebedev, Advisor to the Head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision
- Sergei Pozyabin, Rector of the Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology named after K.I. Scriabin
Moderator:
- Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club
Working languages: Russian, English.