After CoV outbreaks on several mink farms in Europe, Russia is developing its own vaccine for animals. The vaccine should be available at the end of January, said the head of the Rosselkhoznadzor agricultural supervisory authority, Sergej Dankwert, of the Russian specialist magazine “Veterinär und Leben”. The European Union, the USA and Singapore have already expressed their interest.
According to Dankwert, the active ingredient is currently going through the crucial test phase III. „The new vaccine is currently being tested on minks, cats and rodents.“ His authority regularly receives requests from Russian animal farms for a CoV vaccine because minks and ferrets are particularly susceptible to the virus and could infect each other, said the head of the agency.
In the past few weeks there have been cases of mink infections in several European countries, including Sweden, France and the Netherlands. Millions of animals had been killed in Denmark because the virus had mutated. According to official figures, more than 97,000 mink and 6,900 ferrets live in animal farms in Russia. Two vaccines for humans against the coronavirus have already been released in the country.
