The veterinarian response to COVID-19 crisis: Animal production

Dr Konjengbam Rashbehari Singh *

A novel coronavirus disease, named coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a current global disease outbreak first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China. The spread of the COVID-19 has resulted in the most devastating global public health crisis in over a century. The global health crisis unleased by the COVID-19 pandemic has been compounded by political, economic, and social crises that have exacerbated existing inequalities and disproportionately affected the most vulnerable segments of the society.

It is suggested that the virus causing COVID-19 (SARS- CoV-2) emerged from an animal source and that some animals have become infected by people. However, the pandemic is being driven by human-to-human contact and no evidence, to date, has shown that animals are playing a significant role in spreading the disease.

VETERINARY SERVICES FOR SOUND ANIMAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM

The activities of the veterinary services contribute to addressing critical needs such as food security and safety and livelihoods, which are heavily challenged in the current circumstances. These activities are intrinsically linked to sound animal production system. The downstream effects of COVID-19 on economics, animal health and food security remain as important as ever.

Being an integral and essential part of the global health, the veterinarians offer diverse roles not only related to health and welfare of the animals but also management, prevention and control of the zoonotic diseases that are transmitted between animals and humans. Care of veterinarians for food animals ensures good health of the animals and thus our food safety. Role of veterinarians in animal production practices ensures sustainable agricultural livelihoods and viability of our farms. In addition to these routine roles of the veterinarians, the current COVID-19 crisis has unmasked their potential and utility beyond and that too in an effective way.

CARE FOR LIVESTOCK FARM


i) The workers engaged in livestock farming should wear mask and they should sanitize with appropriate sanitizer and maintain social distance while cleaning animal shed, chaffing and distributing fodder and milking dairy animals etc. If any worker is found sick, he should be advised to take standard health measures to avoid possibility for spread of diseases.

ii) Livestock trading should be avoided as far as possible, if it is highly needed, it should be managed through e-trading.

iii) Employees who are suffering from fever along with dry cough and facing shortness of breath should be immediately be quarantined and referred to doctor.

iv) If possible, surplus milk should be converted into value added products like butter milk, ghee, paneer, concentrated products like khoa, kulfi, etc. or it may be fed to the calves if it remains unutilized or casein can be prepared for future sale.

COVID-19 AND FOOD CONSUMPTION


COVID-19 is a respiratory illness spreading from person to person. To date, there has been no report of transmission of CO VID-19 through food and food packaging, despite the large scale pandemic nature of the COVlD-19. However, wash fresh fruits and vegetables under running water before eating. For safety of meat, WHO recommends proper cooking of meat and not eating any meat from diseased animals.

PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN WHEN VISITING MARKETS SELLING ANIMAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS

i) Regular hand washing with soap and potable water after touching animal and animal products ii) Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth.
iii) Avoid contact with sick animals, spoiled animal products, other animals present in the market (stray cats and dogs, rodents, birds and bats), animal waste or fluids on the soil or surfaces of the market facilities.
iv) Follow the standard recommendations issued by WHO, such as use of mask, regular hand washing, physical distancing etc.
v) Avoid close contact with any person showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.
vi) Raw meat, milk or animal products should be handled with care to avoid potential cross-contamination from uncooked foods to foods which are ready to eat.
vii) Products from healthy livestock and poultry such as milk, meat and eggs, which are prepared and served in accordance with food hygiene and food safety principles, remain sale to eat.

MITIGATING THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION

One Health approach

The interrelationship of environment, animals and the humans is important in understanding and tackling any threats to food systems, livestock production and livelihoods. This is particularly important in rural livestock farming communities where animals play an important role for society and food security, by providing income, transport, fuel, clothing, food etc. In this connection, FAO recommends a One Health approach, where animal, human, and environmental health work together to achieve the best results.

Livestock supply chain: To manage COVID-19, many countries had taken actions such as lockdown, travel restrictions and border controls. These actions have resulted in unintended or negative consequences for the livestock sector, including difficulty in movement of live animals and animal products like milk, meat and eggs to market; restrictions potentially limiting seasonal border crossings (transhumance) with ruminants; restricted capacity to purchase necessary production inputs and restricted access to labour and professional services.

These difficulties have led to a decrease in processing capacity for animal products, as well as loss of sales and slowdown of market activity. Further, COVID-19 could undermine the capacities of countries to prevent and control animal diseases. To avoid human-to-human transmission and prevent surface contamination including animal surfaces, it is important to strengthen hygiene practices such as washing hands with soap and water or using hand sanitizers before and after entering farm areas and common places or having contact with animals; maintaining physical distancing; limiting physical interaction; wearing necessary PPE; and avoiding overwork.

One of the main concerns of people working in the livestock value chain due to increased pressure and stress is mental health issue. Early detection of signs of mental health difficulties and early interventions should be made to provide practical and emotional support.

Proper communications with suppliers (e.g. feed and consumables), professional service providers (e.g. veterinarians, mechanics, milk collectors), producer cooperatives or farmer associations are recommended for livestock farmers to streamline livestock supply chain during lockdown period due to pandemic. Exploration of alternative sales channels such as online sales, e-commerce and direct sales using point-to-point transportation to deliver livestock and their products to buyers instead of via retailers or markets.

Practical biosafety and biosecurity measures should be implemented to prevent human contamination of COVID-19 on the farm and also to reduce pathogen loads of the farm. Raise awareness among farm workers about how COVID-19 spreads and how to prevent getting infected, and routinely remind them about biosafety and biosecurity measures against COVID-19 on the farm.

Good animal husbandry and production practices, such as milking hygiene, should be maintained as far as practicable. Routine sanitary programmes of the farm, vaccination, deworming etc. should be continued. When needed, seek advice from veterinarians and livestock husbandry specialists.

Avoid visiting farms, herds, markets or animal product processing facilities if you have symptoms of COVID-19, or if you are confirmed positive and have not yet recovered/been cleared by concerned health providers following isolation period. Physical distancing with farmers and workers when interacting with them should be maintained.

EFFECTS OF COVID- 19 ON LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION: ONE WELFARE APPROACH


Problems among workers in meat processing plants, arising out of COVID-19 pandemic, affected human, animal, and environmental welfare in several countries. Product quality and food safety are the concerns of hygiene in processing plants. COVID-19 spread rapidly between workers because of their close proximity with one another, and the lack of sick leave and health insurance likely resulted in workers continuing to work when infectious. Many processing plants shut down when they identified major outbreaks, putting pressure on pig and poultry industries.

Producers were encouraged to slow growth rates, but some had to cull animals on farm and cause considerable upset to owners and workers. Carcass disposal was also associated with potential biosecurity risks and detrimental effects on the environment.

One Welfare serves to highlight the interconnections between animal welfare, human well being and the environment. It fosters interdisciplinary collaboration to improve human and animal welfare internationally. COVID-19 is a One Welfare issue, affecting human, animal, and environmental welfare and highlighting the fragility of intensive, high- throughput livestock production systems. Our fragile food system requires urgent and radical change to build resilience and ensure food security in the face of future challenges, including climate change. COVID-19 presents us with unique opportunity for a One Welfare driven transformation of the food production system and this will ensure a resilient, fairer, and potentially healthier environment for both humans and animals in the future.

EFFECTS OF COVID- 19 LOCKDOWN ON ANIMAL LIFE


Wildlife behavior: Due to lockdown, there is unexpected reduction in human activity and sudden silence in locality and in response the animals show uncommon behaviour. Animals that are normally in the shadows of our localities have suddenly come into the light, looking for food and roaming.

Bird behavior: Noise pollution negatively impacted on the life of the birds. The silence due to COVID-19 lockdown appears to have led to peaceful living of birds. There were typical changes in behavior of partial migratory birds and they stayed in the sanctuary a bit longer. The birds and butterflies have surged significantly. Due to less human activity, no noise and air pollution, the resident birds are breeding much more than before.

Pet behavior: Normally pets have some routine activities of their own. The normal behavior patterns of the pets were affected by the lockdown. Sometimes they become ferocious and behave abnormal.

Food security of animals: Generally, local street dogs, cats, monkeys, crows and free birds depend upon the foods of tourists and domestic. persons. Lockdown resulted in food crisis of these animals and sometimes they are fighting each other in the process. Afterwards, Govt, and few NGOs are arranging food for animals. The roaming of wildlife in the residential areas may be due to shortage of food.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE GLOBAL ANIMAL HUSBANDRY MARKET


Animal husbandry industry is segmented by type into dairy, meat, poultry, aquaculture and others (insect). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meat and poultry sectors are expected to get affected significantly. Based on the regional viewpoint, the most affected regions are US, China, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, UK and India. Due to the increase in the rate of COVID-19 virus spread, the regional demand of chicken and meat is decreased.

The shutdowns of the food chain services including restaurants has also affected the market growth. In order to reduce the impact of coronavirus in the animal husbandry industry sectors, countries are announcing several relief packages. In India, the Government has set up COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force headed by the Finance Minister to assess the impact of COVID-19 in the various sectors including animal husbandry.

COVID-19 AND ANIMAL WELFARE


Not only animal disease risks, but also potential risks to animal welfare should be identified. Communication channels among the veterinarians, industries and organizations that deal with animals and their welfare should be cleared. Risks include natural disasters, biosecurity events, supply chain shocks, labour disruptions, movement restrictions on personnel, financial hardship, feed supply shortage, and limitations to transport and processing capacity.

Contingency plans for animal welfare must cover financial hardship, and it is needed to identify resource reserves that can be used to ensure that the care of the animals is not compromised. Arrangements that were developed for the CO VID-19 pandemic should be incorporated into contingency plans. During the times of crisis, support systems for animal care providers should be developed by each sector.