better images to come when I get sorted !
Mark
Category: General News
Aperson in Missouri has become the first American to be diagnosed with H5N1 bird flu without coming into contact with animals, in a potentially worrying development.
They are the 14th person to become infected in the US since the strain hit livestock earlier this year – but the first not to have been directly exposed to an infected bird or cow.
It is still unclear how the Missourian was infected, but experts have been warning for months against drinking raw milk because of fears the virus can spread to people via this route.
Mark
Here we go again – World, get prepared for another lockdown. The Utterly Cruel Chinese Are At It Yet Again.
Researchers scoured for viruses in the lungs, intestines and other tissues of 461 individual fur animals that were found dead due to disease across China. They identified 125 virus species, including 36 that were novel and 39 at potentially-high risk of crossing the species barrier, including spilling over to infect humans.
Raccoon dogs and mink, valued for their soft pelts, carried the highest number of potentially dangerous viruses, according to the research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
China dominates the trade, accounting for over 80% of global fur production, with pelts from around 27 million animals turned into high-end garments in 2021.
Notably, 19 potentially high-risk viruses were detected in the northeastern province of Shandong, which contains many fur animal farms. The findings revealed potential virus transmission between farmed animals and wild animals, and from humans to farmed animals, indicating that fur farming represents an important transmission hub for viruses that risk causing disease in people.
Lots More Reading About This:
Dozens of new viruses are emerging from Chinese fur farms (msn.com)
Pandemic Fears as Dozens of ‘High Risk’ Viruses Found in China’s Fur Farms (msn.com)
Fears fresh pandemic outbreak could spark in China’s fur farms (msn.com)
Potential Outbreak-Causing Viruses Found in China’s Fur Animals – BNN Bloomberg
Viruses detected in China’s fur farm animals, including seven types of coronaviruses (alarabiya.net)
Regards Mark
Dozens of viruses – some of which have the potential to spill over into humans – have been detected mixing in animals at fur farms in China, sparking news fears of a fresh pandemic outbreak, researchers have said.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, scientists have been warning that farming mammals such as minks for their fur could make it easier for new viruses to cross over from the wild and spark fresh outbreaks.
Virologist Edward Holmes, who has led research into Covid-19, told AFP he felt that the global fur farming industry ‘is one most likely ways by which a new pandemic will start’.
Regards Mark
Dozens of viruses – some of which have the potential to spill over into humans – have been detected mixing at fur farms in China. Pictured: foxes and mink on a fur farm in China
A WHALE suspected of being a spy for Vladimir Putin before it “defected” from Russia may have been shot dead, animal rights activists claim.
The infamous white beluga Hvaldmir was found dead this weekend after unsuspecting fisherman saw his carcass floating off the coast of Norway.
Suspicious animal rights groups are now looking into if the 14ft whale was actually a victim of foul play and “senselessly murdered”.
Concerned organisations, OneWhale and NOAH (National Office of Animal Health), say they believe all signs point towards the animal being gunned down.
A police report, both groups claim to have seen, reportedly says Hvaldmir suffered “intentional human-inflicted injury”.
They also say bullet wounds were found on the 1,200kg whale’s corpse.
Continue reading (with video and photos) at:
Very, very sad world when such a magnificent animal is accused of ‘defecting’ and then being hunted down and murdered by humans because of this farce. Does a whale ‘defect’ ? – no, it has more intelligence than that. It simply wants to live its life as a marine animal, enjoying the norms that hopefully would come with it; not being accused of being a a traitor in some East / West ‘sided’ ‘human’ trained spy machine that in the end is terminated because of what the humans think. I find this such a pathetically sad story which shows how some of the human species regard those in the animal kingdom. Sad that the Putins, Netinyahu’s, and Trump do not consider the wonders that exist outside of their pathetic little (and I mean little) power grab personal races to maintain being at the ‘top’ (top of what ?). Pathetic, and a danger to normal compassionate people, all of them.
Regards Mark
2 September 2024
Animalia
Oikeutta eläimille / We Animals Media
In Finland, one of Europe’s major fur producing countries, farms are downsizing and closing at a rapid rate. Over the last 5 years, mink production has declined by 50%, whilst fox farming has collapsed even more sharply at 68%.
New statistics on 2023 from the Finnish Fur Breeders’ Association, analysed by Animalia, have confirmed that the industry is in a steep decline.
In 2023, there was only one mink farm producing more than 10,000 pelts, compared to 11 such farms the previous year. There were six fox farms producing more than 10,000 pelts, compared to 8 in 2022, and 20 in 2019. Most mink are raised on farms producing fewer than 500 pelts annually, indicating that mink farming is a side business. Foxes, on the other hand, are mostly raised on farms with 3,000–10,000 animals.
22% fewer foxes and 4% fewer mink were born on fur farms. Over the last 5 years, mink production has declined by 50%, whilst fox farming has dropped by 68%.
The actual number of furs produced last year is significantly lower than expected from the rate of births, as nearly half a million fur animals were culled and destroyed in the autumn of 2023 due to avian influenza.
The few remaining farms are not financially viable. The average sale price of blue fox pelts was down 13% from the previous year. The production cost of a fox pelt currently exceeds the sales profit, and results in a loss of up to 50 euros per animal for the farmer. The average price of a mink pelt also declined by 2% from the previous year.
Following the mass culling of mink on Finnish fur farms due a bird flu outbreak in 2023, farmers received over 50 million euros of public funds in compensation, increasing scrutiny over the industry’s economic value.
Employment provided by the industry has halved in five years, undermining the social argument for propping up production.
In an opinion poll conducted by Animalia and Oikeutta Eläimille in 2023, 83% of Finns believed that fur farming should either be banned or that animals should be given significantly more space and opportunities to engage in species-specific behaviour.
The new statistics support the argument for a Fur Free Europe, as proposed by the successful European Citizens’ Initiative.
Regards Mark
World Animals Voice 