The China Meat Association is raising concerns that food packaging contaminated with COVID-19 could lead to increased human infection.  Photo: E+/Getty Images

China meat assoc calls for exporters to disinfect shipments to prevent COVID-19

Beijing | Reuters – Chinese meat importers and processors have called on exporters in countries with COVID-19 outbreaks to step up checks on shipments before they are sent to the world’s biggest market, the country’s top industry group said. “China has been importing a large quantity of meats this year, and has detected virus on […] Read more



File photo of a farmed mink. (Konstantin Sokolov/iStock/Getty Images)

Denmark to cull entire farmed mink population

Coronavirus mutation spreads to people

Copenhagen | Reuters — Denmark will cull its mink population of up to 17 million after a mutation of the coronavirus found in the animals spread to humans, the prime minister said on Wednesday. Health authorities found virus strains in humans and in mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies, potentially lowering the efficacy of […] Read more

Photo: File/Reuters

G4 swine flu virus not new, China says

Ag ministry says virus does not infect or sicken humans, animals easily

Shanghai/Beijing | Reuters — China’s ministry of agriculture and rural affairs said Saturday that the so-called “G4” strain of swine flu virus is not new and does not infect or sicken humans and animals easily, rebuffing a study published last week. That study, by a team of Chinese scientists and published by the U.S. journal […] Read more


Comment: Talking to the new CCA president

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) held its annual general meeting in mid-March in downtown Ottawa. Beef producers and industry folks from across Canada and even some from the U.S. gathered in a Hilton on Queen Street for committee meetings on everything from emergency planning for a livestock disease outbreak to improving risk management programs. During […] Read more

The coronavirus identified in Wuhan, China, is new and until now, had not been found in humans.

Simple goes bad

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, a public health emergency. It’s just another stop on the Zoonotic Highway, a simple respiratory infection that matured into a global health emergency. Health agencies around the world have tried to smother the threat, but efforts seem flawed. History repeats itself: the novel […] Read more


Controlling disease will become more difficult as new diseases constantly emerge, and novel environmental, social and financial pressures across the globe change the face of disease control.

Addressing zoonotic diseases on a global scale

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

In March 2019, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Organization for Animal Health launched a guide for countries using a One Health approach to control zoonotic diseases. The guide became available internationally in multiple languages in October 2019. Zoonotic diseases such as avian influenza, rabies, […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Glyphosate not a carcinogen, U.S. EPA reiterates

Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Tuesday that glyphosate, a chemical in many popular weed killers, is not a carcinogen, contradicting decisions by U.S. juries that found it caused cancer in people. The EPA’s announcement reaffirms its earlier findings about the safety of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Bayer’s […] Read more