A nice update of things we do not know....COVID-19 and animals should be one of the priorities in dealing with Covid-19. 

You do not want Covid-19 in pigs. How prone are pigs to get Covid-19 ? Why is there so limited reporting on spread in animals while it must be widespread ? 

There is a very major risk of Covid-19 getting totally out of control if it spreads to other species-jump between species, increasing mutations and variations. If you think the present crisis can not get far more worse you are wrong ! It can get from very ugly to extremely awfull if Covid19 starts jumping from humans to minks to rabbits, ferrets, pigs etc. and maybe even mix with other ugly virusses !

If I make a comparison, a wildfire is nasty (certainly under hot, dry conditions with lots of wind) but if for some reason "the air starts burning" you can not longer fight the fire-you have to pull out. (I remember I believe Kuwait reporting in a heatwave in 2019 some palmtrees self-igniting due to sun-heat. Maybe some palm-oil or so became above ignition temperature. The fire-triangle started due to the heat-oxygen, fuel-sun provided the temperature....time solved the problem. Otherwise you may have to cut the palmtrees.)

If Covid19 is getting "out of control" in animals (and it looks like it is in the Dutch mink-farms) the only means of control is "end the minks farms". If you fail there it will spread further very likely (via wild cats ?) and the problem gets much more out of control.

Again-politics, healthcare, so far are failing to get a grip on Covid19 and-again-things can get much worse fast if Covid19 spreads to other species-this is NOT a joke ! 

[url]https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/british-cat-tests-positive-covid-19-latest-sign-pets-can-carry-virus[/url] ;

UK public health authorities have just confirmed that a pet cat has become the first animal to test positive for COVID-19 in the UK, Sky News reports.

This isn't the first time a domesticated pet has tested positive for the virus'; pets in China, Japan and Europe have tested positive. In the US, a few tigers at the Bronx Zoo caused a stir when they tested positive back in April.

Though the British veterinarians who discovered the virus warned that this is a "very rare" event.

Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss explained it was a "very rare event" and infected animals detected so far only show "mild clinical signs" and recover "within a few days."

Yvonne Doyle, medical director of Public Health England, said the finding "should not be a cause for alarm."

"In line with the general advice on fighting coronavirus, you should wash your hands regularly, including before and after contact with animals," she added.

There is no evidence that the pet transmitted the virus to its owners, or was infected by them. The only details publicly known about the infected house cat are that it lives in England and was tested at a laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey last week on July 22.

The cat was reportedly diagnosed with feline herpes (oddly enough, this is a common respiratory infection in cats) by a private vet, according to the UK's environmental department.

A sample was then tested for coronavirus as part of a research program by the Animal and Plant Health Agency, and the cat tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness.

The case has been reported to the World Organiztion for Animal Health in line with international commitments, Sky reported.

WHO and CDC have warned that pet owners shouldn't worry too much about being infected by pets, though they notably haven't ruled out such a possibility.

DJ-By accident this virus was found. Let's hope Covid19 is not getting widespread in cats.

https://today.tamu.edu/2020/08/06/texas-am-research-project-identifies-first-covid-19-positive-cats-in-texas/

heres a new one...

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/us/north-carolina-dog-that-died-after-acute-illness-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/ar-BB17QhZN?ocid=msedgdhp 

DJ-Finally our government has made a decission in how to deal with mink farms. Of the 128 farms already 41 did see infections....The decission now is that instead of ending mink farming in NL per january 2024-mink farming has to end per april 1 in 2021...that is it....no further action to stop the spread in and via minks. 

In my opinion-with reports from Gennep relating an increase in Covid19 cases in humans with mink farming-all alarm bells should go of. Most likely minks then also will spread Covid19 in pets etc-wich can further spread it...

A few links; 

[url]https://nltimes.nl/2020/08/27/dutch-permanently-ban-mink-farming-april-2021[/url] or https://nltimes.nl/2020/08/27/dutch-permanently-ban-mink-farming-april-2021 ; 

The ban on mink farming in the Netherlands will be accelerated after the animal stocks of 41 mink farms in the country were cleared in the past six months due to coronavirus infections. The ban will go into effect for the nearly 120 operating mink farms on March 21, 2021, more than 2.5 years faster than the government had planned

A law against breeding and farming the mammals was passed in 2013, with a ten-year transition period set to expire on January 1, 2024. The government has earmarked 180 million euros to buy out the mink farms over the next six months, government sources told newspaper AD and broadcaster NOS.

The plan will be announced on Friday by Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten, the newspaper said. The Cabinet decided against the immediate culling of all mink on all farms because the transmission risk from the animals to human is low, AD reported. Still, a handful of such cases were discovered in the Netherlands, which led to changes in rules regarding visiting the farms, and an early warning system was implemented to discover infected mink more quickly.

These rules were expected to be tightened up even further, the newspaper said. A deeper investigation into whether or not the farms were complying with the rules was likely, amid questions by a D66 Member of Parliament who suggested mink farmers could potentially have an infection spread among their animals and earn a lucrative subsidy from the government when their animals are ordered to be culled.

The MP, Tjeerd de Groot, suggested the possibility amid speculation that the market price of mink pelts would plummet later this year. The owners of farms whose stocks are culled receive a payout based on the 2019 market rate.

Since March, the mink dam on 41 farms and their litters have been culled after an infection of the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus was found. The latest farm was earlier this week in De Morte, Gemert-Bakel, had 4,000 dam which were being bred. The infection was discovered after symptoms of Covid-19 were found among the animals, the government said in a statement.

DJ-via google translate-very limited info; [url]https://www.gelderlander.nl/gennep/brandhaard-gennep-is-een-toevallige-samenloop-van-meerdere-kleine-groepjes-corona-infecties~a92ef1b8/[/url] or https://www.gelderlander.nl/gennep/brandhaard-gennep-is-een-toevallige-samenloop-van-meerdere-kleine-groepjes-corona-infecties~a92ef1b8/  :

NIJMEGEN / GENNEP - While the total number of new corona infections every day in the Netherlands is somewhat less than the previous one, it seems that a source of fire has arisen in the municipality of Gennep. Since last Tuesday, the number of infections there has increased by 16 to 77. A significant increase.

Yet there is no reason for additional measures from the North Limburg Safety Region, says spokeswoman Nicole Theuns. There is not just one seat of the fire. “Part of this peak in infections comes from mink farms. Another part originated in the private sphere, but does not come from one source. There are several groups of infections. ""

It is therefore a concurrence of small groups of infections that cause the peak. In the coming days it remains to be seen whether the number of infections in Gennep will increase even further, says Theuns. "That is very difficult to estimate." 

DJ-Spread via animals in my opinion is underestimated. With also testing in NL being "not up to demand" and most of the mink farming not that far from Germany, Belgium we may be facing a major risk. 

DJ-An extra risk is in escaped minks. In some area's animal care notice "more than usual" escaped minks. I can imagine some farmers might be dumping possibly infected animals-to keep their farm open. They get more compensation when they have to end the farm on government orders.

Those-possibly infected-minks search for food-end up eating rabbit, cat food-sometimes killing pets. Minks eat "a lot of things" so they could show up at a lot of places...

A new study on the spread of Covid19 virus in mink in the NL. [url]https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.01.277152v1.full.pdf[/url] or https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.01.277152v1.full.pdf The virus mutated every two weeks in the mink population. It did spread more often from mink to humans then expected. It is still unclear how the virus did spread, it may be farmworkers, wild cats or an investigation is ongoing if there could have been a spread on purpose. (Since marketprices could be lower than government compensation). 

Mink farms can become a reservoir for Covid19-virus. M. Koopmans-virologists-believes mink/fur farming may have been part of a missing link on how the virus spread from animals to humans. 

In the study they also looked at wath animals are easy to catch the virus-pigs are not among them. But cats, hamsters etc. are. 

DJ-Main point should be-YES-some animals may be part of a chain in virus spread. It may be wise to keep an eye on that to get this pandemic under control. 

[url]https://www.furfreealliance.com/shocking-results-of-the-investigation-on-probably-the-largest-fur-farm-in-the-world/[/url] or https://www.furfreealliance.com/shocking-results-of-the-investigation-on-probably-the-largest-fur-farm-in-the-world/ Carbon20-most likely the reason why so limited cases of spread of covid19 in animals is found is that we are simply not looking...

The study (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.01.277152v1.full.pdf) indicates it is quite likely mink farms did pose a risk to their enviroment-but at that time-april, may-there was no widespread testing. 

Spread via cats in my eyes may be another issue. Eventhough other testing in 5000 NL cats did not find Covid19 in a recent study. 

Officialy the Dutch policy is mink farming has to end before april 1 2021. I wonder if they will speed up the proces or go for delay and deny tactics-no peer reviewed study etc. It could also be they just do not read the report-"we did not know this-so there was no need for action". "Solving the problem by denying the problem"-with a mix of a serious look and a friendly smile-our PM is very good at this non verbal communication...

[url]https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/10/articles/animals/cats/covid-in-animals-review-part-1-cats/[/url] or https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/10/articles/animals/cats/covid-in-animals-review-part-1-cats/ 

How often do cats get infected?

That’s a good question, but we don’t have a good answer because surveillance has been limited. One of the earliest studies from Wuhan, China, raised concern about this because they found anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 14.7% of cats from that city, even though they did not target cats with known exposure to infected people. Finding antibodies indicates that the cats were previously infected. In contrast, another study of cats in Wuhan didn’t find any cats with antibodies.

The most relevant studies are those looking at cats living in households with people who had COVID-19, in which the rates of infection appear to be pretty high. A study from Hong Kong identified SARS-CoV-2 by PCR in 12% of cats from COVID-19-positive households.

Studies looking for the virus by PCR will under-estimate the number of infected cats, because there appears to be only a short window of time that cats will shed the virus. This is illustrated in the figure below from a small experimental study, which shows the shedding time for experimentally infected cats and cats infected by those cats.

The logistics of sampling cats right around the time their owners are infected are challenging, so looking for antibodies against the virus can tell us more, because antibodies stick around for longer after infection.

Our (small, so far) study found antibodies in ~50% of cats living in households with infected people. A pre-print of a study from France had somewhat similar results, finding antibodies in 24-59% of cats from positive households (depending on how the tests were interpreted).

So, my assumption is that cats living with people with COVID-19 are quite commonly infected. Whether it’s 5%, 15% or 50% we don’t know yet, but I think human-to-cat transmission in households is likely pretty common.

[url]https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/10/articles/animals/dogs/covid-in-animals-review-part-2-dogs/[/url] or https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/10/articles/animals/dogs/covid-in-animals-review-part-2-dogs/ ;

DJ-Minks, ferrets may be the biggest problem...[url]https://www.sciencealert.com/coronavirus-is-killing-off-minks-in-their-thousands[/url] or https://www.sciencealert.com/coronavirus-is-killing-off-minks-in-their-thousands ;

The coronavirus pandemic has already claimed more than a million human lives, but we aren't the only living things in danger from COVID-19: minks are being killed off in their thousands because of the spread of the virus.

NBC News reports on the deaths of almost 10,000 minks at farms in Utah in the US, while the picture in Europe has been even bleaker according to Sky News – at a farm in Spain, for example, over 92,000 of the animals have been slaughtered after it was estimated that 90 percent of them had caught the virus.

In the Netherlands, the death toll has been even higher: over 1 million mink have been culled in the country over concerns that the animals could pass the virus back to humans, as per an AP report. World Health Organisation epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove has said the risk of catching COVID-19 from an animal remains "very limited".

In the case of the Utah outbreak, it covers nine fur farms and has been thought to have been caused by the virus being passed on from an infected handler. The first signs of the virus spreading to minks in the region were spotted back in August.

COVID-19 affects minks in a similar way to people, causing respiratory problems that tend to be worse in older animals. The mustelids group, which includes minks, weasels and badgers, is known to be at particular risk of catching the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

DJ-Maybe I missed something-why is this not "breaking news" -but more or less local Danish news ????

[url]https://www.information.dk/indland/2020/10/muteret-corona-mink-daarlig-nyhed-gaaet-helt-galt-endnu[/url] or https://www.information.dk/indland/2020/10/muteret-corona-mink-daarlig-nyhed-gaaet-helt-galt-endnu ;

-

On Wednesday, 89 mink farms were found infected, while 47 were under suspicion. Mink farms in Central and Western Jutland are now also infected.

At the same time, a new concern is emerging: it appears that the virus is mutating in the infected mink in a way that could weaken the impact of the vaccines on humans that are being developed.

The Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Mogens Jensen (S) told TV Midtvest on Monday. Several mink breeders and bourgeois politicians have criticized the government for going too far by also killing healthy mink within a radius of 7.8 km of the infected farms. But this is partly due to the concern that new mutations will occur if more mink become infected, the minister explained.

The Statens Serum Institut (SSI) writes in a so-called epidemiological report that the type of mutations that take place in mink can potentially mean "that herd immunity cannot occur and that vaccines will not work".

Some of the mutations have already spread to humans.

It does not sound very good, nor is it. But there is no reason to panic yet, says Anders Fomsgaard, virologist and chief physician at SSI, who is currently working on a vaccine.

The Royal Crown

“We can see that more and more mutations are occurring on the mink farms. And some of the mutations we are worried about, "he says.

The concern is about a very special protein in the coronavirus, which is called the spike protein. It is the small spikes that protrude from the surface of the virus and have given it the name crown crown virus - coronavirus .

It is the spikes that allow the virus to infect our cells. And that's why it's exactly the protein that all the vaccines that are currently under development are trying to neutralize. But now the protein has begun to mutate in the infected mink.

"What we are worried about is whether these mutations from the mink in the spike protein change the virus so that the vaccines do not work," says Anders Fomsgaard.

But, he stresses: It is still only a hypothetical concern. Of the "five to seven" mink variants of the virus that exist, three of them have so far been found in humans. One of the variants has been studied by SSI and it showed no signs of immunity to the antibodies that the vaccines will contain.

SSI has not yet finished examining the other mink variants.

Rapid carrier

The vaccines that researchers are currently working on are intended to protect humans in two ways:

First, using antibodies to neutralize the spike protein. It is the protection that can potentially be weakened by the mutations.

Second, there is the so-called cell immunity. This means that the vaccine ensures that you do not get sick from the virus, even if it sticks to the body. Thus, the individual is still protected against the disease, even if the antibodies do not work.

But you risk becoming a healthy carrier.

"We want a vaccine that protects against the spread throughout society," says Anders Fomsgaard. "It may be that you do not get sick yourself, but it does not help society if you are still infected worse than an accident."

That is why the protection from the antibodies is so crucial. And that's why Anders Fomsgaard is worried when the spike protein starts to change.

Optimistic

Anders Fomsgaard, however, is still optimistic.

"Yes I am. I am sure that the vaccines will probably work, "he says.

“Because now you do something. The herds are killed and the source of new types of mutations is removed. Then we must hope that the mutations die out. But we can not know. The problem may be that the vaccines do not work optimally. But I do not think that they do not work at all. "

-

The worst that can happen is that the virus mutates in a way that makes it immune to the antibodies, and that that variant begins to spread to humans. Then, according to a purely Darwinian logic, it will soon become the most widespread variant of coronavirus. Not only in Denmark, but all over the world.

-

Infection from mink

More than 150 mink workers have so far been infected with COVID19, says Anders Fomsgaard.

In at least two cases, people related to a mink farm have spread the disease to the community. It writes SSI in the epidemiological report.

In June, the infection moved from a mink farm to a local nursing home in Hjørring, where several residents died after being diagnosed with the disease.

Later, two people have been tested positive after attending a course with a person who is related to a mink farm and who himself became ill on the day of the course. It shows, according to SSI, that 'mink variants of the virus can continue to form chains of infection for the rest of society'.

"The continued development of the virus in mink with more and more mutations in the spike protein and spread by transmission to humans in Denmark poses a potential danger to public health and to the expected effects of a vaccine," writes SSI.

-

Wild animals

The first outbreaks of coronavirus on mink farms in North Jutland took place in early June.

From 8 June to 30 September, 1,386 people in the North Jutland Region have been found infected with COVID-19. Of these, SSI has examined 199 of them in more detail. 98 of the cases were the so-called mink variant of the disease - just under half.

The vast majority of the 98 cases were found during the first outbreaks of COVID-19 on mink farms in June.

SSI writes in the epidemiological report that there is a possibility that viruses with the kind of mutations found in mink 'can reduce or eliminate the effect of all spike- based anti-COVID-19 vaccines, just as it can increase the probability so that people who have already been infected can be re-infected with these virus variants, so that flock immunity does not occur '.

And then there is the risk that the minks infect wild animals in the wild. For example, by an infected mink escaping a farm despite the many safety precautions.

"Once this virus gets established in wild animals in the wild, we will have a very hard time getting rid of this virus ever," says Anders Fomsgaard.

-

Cooperation

Neither SSI nor the other authorities know how coronavirus spreads between mink farms or why it is so strong. When a herd is found to be infected, there is usually also a person related to the farm who is infected. It is therefore reasonable to believe that it is humans who infect the minks.

But it is still unknown. Authorities are currently investigating everything from whether it could be wild animals that spread the infection to whether the virus can be spread using hair from the mink's fur, which is spread by the wind.

(DJ-Could it be Covid19 may have been widespread in minks for a longer time ? somehow escaping testing ?)

DJ-Since we may be talking over the heart of the problem, the cause of it-another article; Very good reporting !!!

[url]https://www.information.dk/indland/2020/10/myndighederne-troede-mink-forvaerre-epidemien[/url] or https://www.information.dk/indland/2020/10/myndighederne-troede-mink-forvaerre-epidemien 

-

It is now clear that the authorities' risk assessment has been incorrect. This is what Hans Jørn Kolmos, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Southern Denmark, says.

"There is no doubt about that at all," he says.

'In my opinion, the authorities' assessment has been marked by wishful thinking. It does not take much biological understanding to figure out that this could happen. "

The infection pressure among people in the North Jutland municipalities is significantly above the national average. During the past week, 96 new cases of COVID-19 have been found among people in Hjørring and Frederikshavn municipalities. Part of the infection comes from mink. This was stated by Kåre Mølbak at the press conference.

He also said that mink breeders and their employees are the professional group in the country that has the greatest risk of becoming infected with COVID-19.

"Low risk"

When the first mink herds were found to be infected with COVID-19 in June, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Mogens Jensen (S) chose to have them all killed based on a precautionary principle.

At the beginning of July, he received a so-called decision basis from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, the National Board of Health, the Danish Agency for Patient Safety and SSI. Here, they recommended, among other things, that mink breeders should wear protective equipment, maintain high hygiene and limit access to the farm if infection was found among the minks.

»By following the current guidelines for people working on mink farms that are positive for COVID-19, it is assessed that there is little risk of infection from a COVID-19 positive mink farm into the surrounding community via people, ”the authorities wrote in the decision basis.

Against this background, the government decided to no longer kill the infected mink herds.

A few months later, the infection on the North Jutland mink farms began to rise sharply. According to the latest figures, 41 mink farms have been found positive for COVID-19. Another 20 farms are suspected.

Hans Jørn Kolmos does not believe that the authorities in July had sufficient grounds to assess that there was a low risk of infection from mink to the surrounding community.

»Mogens Jensen's first instinct to kill these mink based on a precautionary principle was really enough. But all of a sudden, it was no longer considered dangerous. It's a mystery to me how to assess it. I do not think one could draw that conclusion at that time. You had no experience, "he says.

New assessment

Despite the increasing infection among both mink and humans in North Jutland, the authorities have throughout maintained the assessment that there is a low risk of COVID-19 from mink being released into the surrounding community.

Until a few hours before Thursday's press conference, the head of emergency preparedness at the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, Nikolas Hove, said that the low risk assessment was maintained:

"Yes. We still have no reason to assume that there is a massive spread of infection from mink to humans, "he said before the press conference.

But now the minister has received a new, updated risk assessment from SSI.

There is still a lack of definitive evidence that humans have been infected with mink recently. But several things suggest it, says Nikolas Hove.

‘What we have been told by SSI today [Friday, ed .] Is that there are indications that it is spreading from mink to humans. But we have not yet got it finally documented by means of analyzes. "

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration's risk assessment is based on advice from SSI. When asked whether the previous risk assessment has been incorrect, he answers:

»We base our risk assessments on data from SSI. As soon as they change their assessment, we will also change ours. "

Information would have liked to have asked SSI about how long they have known that there is infection from mink to the surrounding community and why they have nevertheless maintained a low risk assessment.

SSI's press department refers to the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, but writes in a short email that they follow developments continuously and recommend reactions as quickly as they can when they have enough data.

[url]https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/10/articles/animals/dogs/sars-cov-2-infected-dog-canada/[/url] or https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/10/articles/animals/dogs/sars-cov-2-infected-dog-canada/ 

DJ-Pets can spread Covid19-cats maybe a bit more easy then dogs...low risk but one has to take everything in account to get a grip on this pandemic.

Anyway, we’ve (finally) identified our first SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive dog in Canada. The timing of the sample in this case probably accounts for that, since we got into the household a bit quicker than average.

Here’s the story:

The dog is an adult dog in the Niagara region of Ontario. Four of six people in the household had COVID-19, and we detected the virus from the dog’s rectal swab. We had a borderline test result on the dog’s throat swab too, although it was a low enough level that we can’t consider it a true positive.

The other dog in the household also had a borderline result on its rectal swab. My guess is it was truly infected but at a lower level or at the start or end of infection. We’ll follow up on both dogs with antibody testing in a few weeks.  I’ll be surprised if both aren’t positive for antibodies.

Both dogs were healthy at the time of sampling and hadn’t had any obvious signs of disease. 

What does this mean to the family members?

• Nothing (besides a unique story if they want to talk about it). The people in the household were all infected, and that was almost certainly human-to-human transmission. The dog(s) were infected by the owners and at that point didn’t pose any risk to the already-infected people.

What about other risks?

• The potential risk from pets is if they have contact with other people or animals outside the household, such as going to parks, kennels or veterinary clinics. We don’t know if dogs often shed enough virus to be infectious to others. The Ct result (the number of PCR cycles required for the test to detect the virus) was well under the cutoff in this case, so it was clearly positive, but looking at some human data, a Ct in the same range (from nasal swabs, so maybe not a perfect comparison) was associated with a low likelihood of culturing the virus from the sample, and therefore the risk of infectivity is likely also low.
• We’ve been going on the assumption that dogs are low risk for being infectious, and I don’t think this changes anything. However, we certainly can’t say there’s no risk from contact with an infected dog.
• There’s also a plausible risk of transmitting virus to neighbours through the fence (something we’ve seen with canine influenza and parainfluenza). That’s why our messaging has been to consider pets part of the household in terms of COVID-19 precautions.  If people are being isolated, do the same with pets. It doesn’t matter if a dog or cat is infected if they don’t encounter anyone new.

So, from a research standpoint, we found it interesting, but it doesn’t change our messaging or mean there’s any more risk. This was the first confirmed positive for us, but it was certainly not actually the first positive dog in Canada. Lots of dogs have probably been infected before now and more will follow. We’re not testing every dog, and there is no need to do so. We don’t recommend people with COVID-19 get their pets tested outside of organized surveillance studies.

Don’t be afraid of animals in terms of COVID-19, but use common sense.

If you’re infected with COVID-19, limit your contact with anything with a pulse (not just people).

If your household is isolating because of COVID-19 exposure, make sure it includes the whole household.  (If you wouldn’t lick your neighbour through the fence, don’t let your dog do the same to the neighbour’s dog… or kid.)

Pigs the Great mixing vessel, 

Not a great deal of genetic difference between humans and pigs......snort snort..... sorry don't want to offend anyone.....with science.....lol

We transplant hearts of pigs into humans....according to some testimonies the taste is the same (I do not know that myself-I do not eat humans or pigs...or other animals...)

I wish I was brave enough to be an organ donor but I cant get passed something.

Donor organ degeneration is where the organs start to decay before they get a chance to remove them. In the past a huge waste.  This has led to a new approach known as " aggressive  management of the donor "  before  harvesting the organs.  The body's physiological processes are supported  during the surgery to take the organs.  

These so called  "Heart beating brain dead organ donors"  ( see link) dont undergo any anesthesia before  having their organs  removed.  They feel there is no need as they are brain dead, and it can take hours to strip the body all the valuable parts.   I dont know if the line between being brain dead and being brain aware is strongly enough established for me to be brave enough to sign any form.   Occasionally  people considered to be brain dead turned out later not to be, and the science shifts the goal posts regularly.  That's why I am not brave enough to be a donor.

I am ashamed but there it is.

Hz x

https://academic.oup.com/bja/article/108/suppl_1/i96/237125

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2000/10/25/national/why-do-some-doctors-anesthetize-brain-dead-patients/

DJ-Covid19 came from bats-most likely via other animals-to humans. [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus 

[url]https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3102711/coronavirus-pets-may-be-more-susceptible-covid-19-first-thought[/url] or https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3102711/coronavirus-pets-may-be-more-susceptible-covid-19-first-thought 

(I hope the links work-otherwise you can copy them to get to the link..)

One question I have is how do corona virusses interact with each other ? How big is the risk of all kind of mutations that create a further risk for humans ? 

Can a "cold corona virus"in a human "mix" with Covid19 and become a much more dangerous "cold" ? 

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus#Infection_in_animals[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus#Infection_in_animals ; Coronaviruses have been recognized as causing pathological conditions in veterinary medicine since the 1930s.^[20] They infect a range of animals including swine, cattle, horses, camels, cats, dogs, rodents, birds and bats.^[126] The majority of animal related coronaviruses infect the intestinal tract and are transmitted by a fecal-oral route.^[127] Significant research efforts have been focused on elucidating the viral pathogenesis of these animal coronaviruses, especially by virologists interested in veterinary and zoonotic diseases

DJ-Flu seems to be more bird (but birds CAN spread corona virus !!!) related, corona virus more land animals-and a lot of them...also in the wild. 

([url]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128009468000246[/url] or https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128009468000246 )(DJ-Sorry for the links-but I am searching for some answers) better link [url]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6296008/[/url] or https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6296008/ ; Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a large group of enveloped viruses with a single-strand RNA genome, which continuously circulate in mammals and birds and pose a threat to livestock, companion animals, and humans. CoVs harboured by avian species are classified to the genera gamma- and deltacoronaviruses. Within the gamma-CoVs the main representative is avian coronavirus, a taxonomic name which includes the highly contagious infectious bronchitis viruses (IBVs) in chickens and similar viruses infecting other domestic birds such as turkeys, guinea fowls, or quails. Additionally, IBVs have been detected in healthy wild birds, demonstrating that they may act as the vector between domestic and free-living birds. Moreover, CoVs other than IBVs, are identified in wild birds, which suggests that wild birds play a key role in the epidemiology of other gammaCoVs and deltaCoVs. 

DJ-Is Covid19 a "gamma or delta Cov"? No-it is a beta Cov. [url]https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/types.html[/url] or https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/types.html (at least MERS and SARS-1 are). 

I don't carry a card

But wife knows my wish as I know hers ........

DJ [url]https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/11/articles/animals/other-animals/covid-in-animals-review-part-7-cattle/[/url] or https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/11/articles/animals/other-animals/covid-in-animals-review-part-7-cattle/  ;

I’m going to have to go back to the start soon and update previous reviews, but there are a couple more species worth mentioning. Cattle are an obvious concern because they are important food animals that are widely raised and often housed in large groups. Some, especially dairy cattle, have a lot of contact with people. More human contact means more risk of exposure, and more animal numbers means more risk of spread (and mutation).

Fortunately, this virus doesn’t like cattle. We probably can’t say they’re not susceptible, but we can say they’re minimally susceptible. The risks to cattle are minimal and the risks to us from cattle are pretty much zero.

DJ-Denmark may need a special law to kill the remaining 15 million minks. [url]https://cphpost.dk/?p=120207[/url] or https://cphpost.dk/?p=120207 

I have to share the funny. NOT making light of our situation but this was funny.  So the WHO determined that dogs were not carriers of COVID.  So they requested all dogs in captivity be released.  So WHO let the dogs out.  hahahaha

[url]https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/internet-communication/avian-flu-diary/901879-eid-journal-susceptibility-of-domestic-swine-to-experimental-infection-with-sars-cov-2#post901879[/url] or https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/internet-communication/avian-flu-diary/901879-eid-journal-susceptibility-of-domestic-swine-to-experimental-infection-with-sars-cov-2#post901879 ;

DJ-Allthough not very likely pigs may catch Covid19. If such an event would happen on a larger scale in groups of (wild) pigs it can further develop. In such a scenario it may get easier to spread between pigs-and from pigs to humans (or minks, ferrets etc.)

Untill recent the chances for pigs catching Covid19 were believed to be even smaller/non existent-that view may have been a bit optimistic. 

DJ-Most likely NOT Covid-I hope...

[url]https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/animal-diseases-of-concern-excludes-h5n1/903632-nz-mystery-pneumonia-like-disease-killing-yellow-eyed-penguin-chicks[/url] or https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/animal-diseases-of-concern-excludes-h5n1/903632-nz-mystery-pneumonia-like-disease-killing-yellow-eyed-penguin-chicks ;

Mystery disease killing yellow-eyed penguin chicks
Amber Allott12:30, Jan 11 2021

An unknown, pneumonia-like illness is killing yellow-eyed penguin chicks, and it could force bird rescuers to take drastic action during the next breeding season.

The yellow-eyed penguin, also known as hoiho, is one of the world’s rarest penguins, and is considered nationally endangered with between 4000 and 5000 birds left.

Dunedin’s Wildlife Hospital Trust manager, Jordana Whyte, said the disease was a respiratory infection, which presented like a type of pneumonia.

“We don’t know what’s causing it, or if it’s infectious from chick to chick...

DJ-[url]https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/123911143/mystery-disease-killing-yelloweyed-penguin-chicks[/url] or https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/123911143/mystery-disease-killing-yelloweyed-penguin-chicks ; “It only seems to affect them at a vulnerable, young age ... once they’re old enough to weigh a kilo[gram], they’ve passed the danger zone.”

-

The disease had only been diagnosed post-mortem so far, so Whyte did not know how many of the chicks they cared for had survived it.

She said they first noticed a few cases last summer, and decided it was something to keep an eye on.

But the problem became worse, with 30 chicks dying from the illness this season.

In theory the further this pandemic spreads the more likely it could even reach these rare sort of penguin. It may be a "variant" even not infectious for humans...still most likely NOT related to Covid. (If this would be a form of Covid this far away from its original hosts it would be very alarming-most likely species to get infected=bats, cats, rats, wild minks etc. Less likely seem to be camels (MERS), cattle...maybe pigs...)