Report: China’s fur farms have a high danger of animal-to-human disease development

A substantial risk of illness development was discovered during an inspection at five fur farms in China that housed mink, foxes, and raccoon dogs. According to research done by the animal advocacy organization Humane Society International, many illnesses may spread from animals to people.

Visiting lecturer at Surrey University’s Veterinary School, Alastair MacMillan said that the fast transmission of viruses by droplets from animal to animal and maybe human to human is caused by the animals’ high stocking density, as reported by Reuters.

MacMillan states that rapid transmission and mingling of different viral strains from one animal to another promotes the formation of dangerous mutant strains, increased risk of human infection, and the viruses’ adaption to a mammalian host.

It is alarming when diseases spread.
Regarding the conditions on the fur farms and the risk of disease transmission, there was no answer to many inquiries sent to China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The study states that the state of public health and the spread of illness are quite concerning since it was previously shown that animals raised for fur were vulnerable to respiratory viruses that may infect people.

Raccoon dogs may have had a role in the coronavirus’s ability to infect people, according to data from the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic that was made public last year. Numerous animals were seen pacing constantly, which specialists believe is a sign of psychological discomfort.

Which illnesses are transmissible from animals to people?
The most prevalent illness that people get from animals is rabies. It is a virus-based illness that mostly spreads by an infected animal biting a human or another animal. It affects the neurological system of animals.

Blastomycosis, also known as Blastomyces dermatitidis, is an uncommon fungal illness that is often acquired by breathing in the spores of a fungus that grows in soil or wood.

Psittacosis (also known as Chlamydia or Chlamydophila psittaci): It is an infection that is brought on by raising poultry and causes companion birds to get unwell on a regular basis.