News from around the world, provided by ICFAP
The International Coalition for Animal Protection (ICFAP) was founded on the One Health principle that advancing the well-being of animals is critical not just for the animals but also for humans and our shared environment.
ICfAP Global News
31 January 2025
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Animal Protection and Welfare |
Farmers and animal advocates discuss fish welfare in Holyrood Representatives from the aquaculture industry and animal protection organisations met in the Scottish Parliament to discuss the disparity between the legal protections for farmed fish and farmed land animals, and what the Scottish government can do about it. Farmed land animals are protected by laws which detail how each species should be killed in a minimally painful manner, with those who break these laws becoming liable for prosecution, farmed fish have no equivalent protections. This is despite consensus among scientists that fish can think and feel, including feel pain. An estimated 77 million fish are farmed and slaughtered in the United Kingdom (UK) annually, with the majority of these being Atlantic salmon farmed in Scotland. This makes fish the second largest group of farmed animals in the UK, after chickens. The parliamentary reception, sponsored by Christine Grahame Member of Scottish Parliament, heard from organisations working to address this legal disparity in line with the Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion and discussed the necessity for official guidance to support the industry to meet its legal obligations at every stage of farming and to enforce the law against those who break it. The reception was jointly organised by The Humane League UK, Animal Equality UK and The Animal Law Foundation and supported by Compassion in World Farming, The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, One Kind, Animal Concern, and Labour Animal Welfare Society. Although most salmon farms in Scotland have signed up to voluntary accreditation schemes which include mandatory stunning prior to slaughter, private schemes have limited enforcement powers, and charities argue they should not be solely responsible for safeguarding animal welfare.
| 23 January 2025 |
German meat and dairy banned due to foot-and-mouth Meat and dairy products from Germany have been banned in Guernsey after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, (FMD). All imported products from pigs, sheep, cattle and goats in Germany are prohibited, including sausages, cured meats, butter and cheese. The States of Guernsey said the food ban would help protect the island's livestock from risk of the "highly contagious" disease. The United Kingdom’s Government has said, “FMD poses no risk to human health”. The states veterinary officer David Chamberlain said: "FMD poses no risk to human or food safety, but is a highly contagious viral disease of cattle, sheep, pigs and other cloven-hoofed animals. We urge islanders not to bring prohibited animal products to the Bailiwick from the European Union to avoid introducing this virus to our local herds, which could have a devastating impact on animal health and welfare." The States of Guernsey have said any prohibited products imported would be placed in secure bins at the harbour and airport.
| 25 January 2025
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Over 250 animals rescued from “horrific conditions” on Ohio fur farm More than 250 animals, including foxes, coyotes, wolf-dog hybrids and skunks, have been removed from a fur and urine farm in Ashtabula county, Ohio, after they were found in what officials described as “horrific” conditions. “This is one of the most horrific situations I have ever seen – the terror and pain was palpable,” Adam Parascandola, vice-president of the Humane Society of the United States animal rescue team, said.
The Humane Society said that the farm was used to raise and slaughter animals for their fur and urine, in addition to selling them as exotic pets. During an investigation into the property, officials found the animals living in “filthy wire-bottom cages” with “little to no protection from the frigid conditions”. Several animals were missing limbs, ears, tails and other body parts. Many animals were found already deceased covered in snow. Others were starving and severely dehydrated. “Our team is exposed to immense cruelty in the criminal cases we regularly respond to like dogfighting and severe neglect, yet this stands out both in terms of suffering and because of these fur farming practices,” Parascandola said. “It is haunting.” The last of the animals were removed from the property on 25 January. According to the Humane Society, some animals were euthanised because they were critically injured or sick, but more than 250 were rescued and taken to wildlife rehabilitation facilities and animal sanctuaries | 28 January 2025 |
Environmental protection |
The United States reports first outbreak of H5N9 bird flu in poultry The United States (U.S.) has reported its first outbreak of H5N9 bird flu in poultry on a duck farm in California, said the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) on 27 January. U.S. authorities also detected the more common H5N1 strain on the same farm in Merced County, California, they said in a report to WOAH, adding that the almost 119,000 birds on the farm had been killed by 2 December 2024. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), commonly called bird flu, has spread around the globe in recent years, leading to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry. It also spread to dozens of mammal species, including dairy cows in the U.S. and killed a person in Louisiana. The strain that has caused the most damage in recent years has been H5N1, whereas H5N9 is rarer. "This is the first confirmed case of HPAI H5N9 in poultry in the United States," the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in the report to the WOAH. "The United States Department of Agriculture and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, in conjunction with State Animal Health and Wildlife Officials, are conducting comprehensive epidemiological investigations and enhanced surveillance in response to the HPAI related events," it added. | 28 January 2025 |
Pandemic prevention |
The United Kingdom’s Emergency Alert System to be sent to phones again in nationwide test The nationwide Emergency Alert System (EAS), which sends alerts through mobile phones, will be tested later this year. The test comes as senior government officials and the emergency services will take part in a multi-day pandemic preparedness exercise, as ministers aim to bolster the United Kingdom (UK) against future threats like COVID-19. Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said the government plans to train thousands of people to be better prepared for crises like pandemics. It is expected to be held on different days over several months in the autumn and will involve thousands of participants across the UK - including all government departments, local councils, emergency services and the devolved authorities. Vulnerable groups, including elderly and disabled people disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, will also be provided with more support. There is no exact date yet for when the government plans to test the EAS alarm, but it is expected to be later this year.
| 17 January 2025 |
Marburg Virus Disease Marburg virus and Ravn virus of the species are the causative agents of Marburg virus disease (MVD). Initially, human MVD infection results from prolonged exposure to mines or caves inhabited by Rousettus fruit bat colonies. Once introduced in the human population, Marburg virus can spread through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials contaminated with these fluids.
By way of prevention and control it is said, community engagement is key to successfully controlling any outbreaks. Outbreak control relies on using a range of interventions, such as case management, surveillance and contact tracing, good laboratory service, infection prevention and control in health facilities, safe and dignified burials and social mobilisation. Raising awareness of risk factors for MVD and protective measures that individuals can take is an effective way to reduce human transmission. Healthcare workers should always take standard precautions when caring for patients, regardless of their presumed diagnosis. These include basic hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, use of personal protective equipment (to block splashes or other contact with infected materials), safe injection practices and safe and dignified burial practices. Healthcare workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed MVD should apply extra infection control measures to prevent contact with the patient’s blood and body fluids and contaminated surfaces or materials such as clothing and bedding. The World Health Organisation (WHO) aims to prevent MVD outbreaks by maintaining surveillance for MVD disease and supporting at-risk countries to develop preparedness plans. When an outbreak is detected WHO responds by supporting surveillance, community engagement, case management, laboratory services, infection prevention and control, logistical support and training and assistance with safe burial practices.
| 20 January 2025 |
Prioritising prevention in the Pandemic Treaty On February 17, 2025, debates will resume over the World Health Organisation (WHO) Pandemic Agreement. The member states have a month to build consensus on two potential deal-breakers. The treaty needs to find a way to reduce the risk of future pandemics. According to the One Health concept, animal pathogens with pandemic potential can be identified before they reach humans. Mitigating the ecological drivers of zoonotic spillover (primary prevention) and improving outbreak detection and response (secondary prevention), both reducing the odds that wildlife or livestock pathogens ever become a human health emergency.
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, pandemic prevention advocates called for ambitious multilateral actions to mitigate the drivers of zoonotic disease emergencies, such as eliminating wildlife farming in China or halving deforestation in the tropics. More important, the parties are to develop policies that reduce pandemic risk in several ways, among them "prevention of infectious disease transmission between animals and humans, including zoonotic disease spillover." The specifics are currently left for parties to decide, for important reasons: They will need to develop different strategies based on underlying differences in wildlife and pathogen communities, risk factors for emergencies, and—as recognised in the preamble—different capabilities, capacities, and resources.
| 21 January 2025 |
As Bird Flu becomes a growing threat, Moderna is awarded US$590 million to develop mRNA pandemic influenza vaccines The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), of which the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is part of, believes the current bird flu outbreak has pandemic potential. Though person-to-person spread has not yet been detected, H5N1 has infected 67 people in 10 states, including a death in Louisiana. That’s in addition to infection in more than 136 million poultry, nearly 11,000 wild birds, and over 900 dairy herds as of mid-January. To that end, HHS has granted Moderna $590 million to help accelerate the development of a bird flu vaccine.
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) supplied the funding and has been working with Moderna since 2023 to develop mRNA vaccines for use during influenza-related public health emergencies. “The award made today is part of the ASPR’s commitment to strengthening pandemic preparedness through investments in innovative technology such as mRNA vaccines,” then–Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell said in the news release. “mRNA technology will complement existing vaccine technology, allowing us to move faster and better target emerging viruses to protect us against future pandemics.”
Last year, Moderna completed a Phase I/II clinical trial of an investigational influenza vaccine called mRNA-1018, which was tested against H5 and H7 bird flu subtypes. Another Phase III trial will target H7N9, according to HHS. To combat “multiple health threats,” the agency added and that Moderna will design up to four additional pandemic influenza vaccines for testing in Phase I clinical trials.
| 23 January 2025 |
Vietnam appointed co-coordinator for UN pandemic response summit Philemon Yang, President of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), on 27 January appointed Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Head of Vietnam’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN), and Ambassador Maurizio Massari, Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN, as co-facilitators for the preparation of the UN High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response in 2026. The event will focus on strengthening global preparedness, response, and prevention of pandemics, while promoting international commitments to health and well-being, including the Declaration on Future Generations. This marks the first time Vietnam has been appointed as a co-facilitator for preparing a major UN conference, highlighting the UNGA President’s and the international community’s acknowledgment of Vietnam’s reputation, role, and valuable contributions to global efforts, especially in pandemic prevention and control.
| 28 January 2025 |