Furs: Coronavirus

(asked on 11th May 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the World Organisation for Animal Health’s statement that susceptible animals, such as mink, could become a SARS-CoV-2 reservoir that could pose a continued public health risk and lead to future spillover events to humans, what assessment he has made of the disease risks associated with the global fur trade.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 17th May 2021

The United Kingdom has a well-established surveillance system to ensure that zoonotic infections in animal populations are isolated effectively. The probability of human infection with COVID-19 from animals such as mink in the UK is assessed to be very low for the general population but high for individuals who work in high density settings. The farming of fur has been banned in England since 2000 and therefore there are very few high-density settings in the UK and to date no infections have been reported in such premises.

However, the welfare conditions of animals farmed for their fur globally may not meet the UK’s standards, which increases the risk to public health from high-density settings overseas. The Government is considering any further steps it could take in relation to this risk.

Reticulating Splines