Updates as of 13 March 2020

As the impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt across the world, we are actively monitoring the situation and its potential impacts on veterinary medicine.

As a responsible industry our priorities are to stand by our customers, that is to say: vets; farmers; and companion animal owners; and to support our members and their employees in taking all precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of our people and their families.

In order to ensure business continuity, our members continue to connect with veterinary and other customers while following all relevant precautions to help reduce the spread of the virus, including phone and online technologies and avoiding face-to-face interactions and travel when non-critical.

Along the same lines and where possible, we are supporting “working from home” policies for our members’ employees following the recommendations from EMA and from local governments.

The EMA has confirmed that, at this stage, manufacturers have not reported any shortages or delays in production. Our goal is to support you with links to relevant information in this fast-evolving situation.

The OIE confirms that the current spread of COVID-19 is a result of human to human transmission. To date, there is no evidence that companion animals can spread the disease. EFSA has also confirmed that there is currently no evidence that food is a likely source or route of transmission of the virus. The risk of infection is higher in areas with the virus currently circulating, meaning where many people are infected by it.

Below we have gathered together a list of sources with factual information on the disease, its impacts, transmission routes, precautions taken by the human and animal health industries, and measures being taken to contain its spread, etc.:

https://www.animalhealtheurope.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103