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Remote consultancy
Update on mink study
We are always pleased to be able to provide support. Not only training courses but also consultancy is ideal for that purpose. GD staff member Harold van der Heijden recently provided remote consultancy, for example. This marked a collaboration with Changrong China, for whom we have mapped out the PCR activities. While the COVID period has caused a great deal of misery, it has also greatly enhanced the possibilities for remote working. The first session was held online, in which we requested that the activities be defined wherever possible by means of photos and videos. Harold was then able to make suggestions for improvements, based on that footage. So what’s next? We are offering a training course in lab techniques and will help them improve their internal control system. And so we each do what we do best and help each other.
In April 2020, GD discovered a natural SARS-CoV-2 infection in minks for the first time worldwide. During the subsequent period, we were not only intensively involved in monitoring this virus among minks, but also in the related study, conducted in close collaboration with Utrecht University, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), Erasmus MC and WBVR. The study showed that the virus had been transferred from people to minks, but also that the virus from infected minks was transferred back to people. However, the virus strains discovered at the mink farms were virtually unheard of outside the mink sector. This means that there was no great distribution from the mink sector to the rest of the population. No airborne virus was discovered in the direct vicinity of the mink farms, even though there was a strong virus concentration close to the cages of the infected animals. The conclusion was that there was no increased risk of infection for local residents and passers-by, though employees at the infected farms were at risk and therefore needed to take the appropriate safety measures. Mink prohibition earlier than planned Partly due to the persistent new infections and the concern that minx might possibly form a virus reservoir, the Dutch government decided to implement the prohibition on mink farming in the Netherlands earlier than planned, on 8 January 2021. With hindsight, we know that the infections were spread regionally, though even extensive studies could not clarify the exact manner of transfer between the various farms.
MORE INFORMATION WWW.GDANIMALHEALTH.COM/CONSULTANCY
New distributors in 2021 This year we have found several new distributors for all our products and services. We would like to introduce: • • • • •
Guangzhou Vetbio Co. Ltd, China Laboratorio IDC, Investigación, Diagnóstico y Calidad, Colombia PT. Ela Karsa Utama, Indonesia Anand Animal Health Pvt. Ltd., India On Point Diagnostics (Pty) Ltd, South Africa
Our distributors serve laboratories and integrations on a high technical level and can add value to our products and services locally. INTERESTED OR WANT TO KNOW MORE? WWW.GDANIMALHEALTH.COM/DISTRIBUTORS
European monitoring of antimicrobial resistance The monitoring of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacterial pathogens of animals is currently not coordinated at European level. To fill this gap, experts of the European Union Joint Action on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections (EU-JAMRAI) recommended building the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance network in Veterinary medicine (EARS-Vet). Therefore the national monitoring systems for AMR in bacterial pathogens of animals among 27 countries affiliated to EU-JAMRAI were identified, their structures and operations described and their respective strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analyzed. This provided useful information, which was published in an article to which our GD colleagues Jobke van Hout and Annet Heuvelink have contributed.
Let’s go digital In these times of digital media, we publish the Update magazine on paper as well as online. Do you prefer to read the magazine online? Please send your email address to support@gdanimalhealth.com and we will send you our future Updates digitally! And did you know that we also publish newsletters? Feel free to subscribe via our website.
Update, November 2021 - 11
