Dozens of viruses detected in Chinese fur farm animals

Researchers reported on Wednesday ( Sep 4 ) that dozens of viruses have been found mixing in animals at fur farms in China. Some of them are brand-new and have the potential to spread to humans.

Researchers have been warning that farming animals like raccoons for their hair may make it easier for new infections to cross over from the wild and cause new epidemics since the COVID-19 crisis.

The world hair farming industry is “one of the most plausible ways by which a new crisis does start,” according to pathologist Edward Holmes, who has led study into COVID-19.

” Privately, I think the leather farming business worldwide should remain closed down”, he added.

A new study, which Holmes is co-author, examines the potential risk posed by viruses in leather farms in the nation where the first COVID-19 situations first surfaced in late 2019.

The Chinese-led team of researchers extracted the genetic material from heart and stomach specimens of 461 mink, rabbit, fox, and fox dogs that perished from illness in the country between 2021 and 2024.

Most were from fur fields, some were even farmed for meals or conventional medicine, while around 50 were exotic pets.

The group detected 125 infections, including 36 new people, according to the study in the journal Nature.

Thirty-nine of the infections have a “high risk” of jumping across types, including to mankind, the scientists evaluated.

Some of those infections, such as hepatitis E and Asian measles, have already been found in humans, but 13 of them, according to the study, were relatively new.

Guinea pigs, racoons, and muskrats even found a variety of bird flu.
Seven different coronaviruses were discovered, all of whom were strongly related to COVID-19, which causes SARS-CoV-2.