Ferret owners urged to register animals to help prevent new Covid variants spreading
Owners of ferrets, weasels and minks in Wales are being urged to sign up to a new voluntary register to help contain any possible outbreak of the virus which causes Covid-19.
In Autumn last year an outbreak in Denmark confirmed it is possible for mink to infect humans with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19 and as a consequence up to 17 million animals were culled.
Whilst mink farming is banned in the UK, other mammals in the Mustelinae family, such as ferrets, are known to be highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, and researchers are using ferrets to study the virus as they suffer similar symptoms to humans when infected.
It has also been demonstrated new variants can arise in ferrets and other Mustelinae, and they can spread infection within their own species.
The register opens today for owners in Wales, England and Scotland and will provide updates and guidance from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) for those who sign up to it, particularly in dealing with a Covid outbreak associated with kept ferrets or other Mustelinae.
The register, which is for owners in Wales, England and Scotland, is voluntary at this stage.
“This register will be important in protecting human health if variants of SARS-CoV-2 a virus which causes COVID-19 associated with Mustelinae emerge, “Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales, Christianne Glossop said.
‘Precautionary measure’
“This is a precautionary measure and will allow us to provide timely and prompt advice to owners should the need arise.
“By signing up, keepers will be informed on how to reduce the risk of the virus spreading including to their ferrets and themselves. It will also help improve our understanding of the kept ferret population in Wales.
“I encourage all keepers of ferrets or other Mustelinae including polecats, stoats, mink or hybrids of these animals to sign up to the register.
Keepers of ferrets and other mammals in the Mustelinae family in Wales can register here.
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This will be a nasty nettle for someone to grasp!
Not only are there hundreds, possibly thousands, of wild Mink (released, into the countryside, by animal rights protestors years ago), plus the innate population of Stoats,Weasels, Polecats, Pine Martens etc and we are not talking small numbers here either. No one seems to have addressed the fact that both Badgers and Otters are members of the Mustelidae family as well and these, along with the Pine Marten, are protected species.