The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to evolve, the risk of future emergence of variants is high.
The WHO, in a joint statement with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) on “the prioritisation of monitoring SARS-CoV-2 infection in wildlife and preventing the formation of animal reservoirs,” said humans are not infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus by eating meat, and “wildlife does not play a significant role in a spread in humans.”
FAO, OIE and WHO, however, called on countries to take steps to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission between humans and wildlife, with the aim of reducing the risk of variant emergence and protecting both humans and wildlife.
They noted: “Although COVID-19 is driven by human-to-human transmission, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is also known to infect animal species.”
Current knowledge indicates that wildlife does not play a significant role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in humans, but spread in animal populations can affect the health of these populations and may facilitate the emergence of new virus variants.
“In addition to domestic animals, free-ranging, captive or farmed wild animals such as big cats, minks, ferrets, North American white-tailed deer and great apes have thus far been observed to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. To date, farmed mink and pet hamsters have been shown to be capable of infecting humans with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and a potential case of transmission between white-tailed deer and a human is currently under review.”
The United Nations agencies said the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 to wildlife could result in the establishment of animal reservoirs.
– Media Report