United States Department of Homeland Security officials defined some dog, cat and other food industry professionals as “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers” during the COVID-19 pandemic. With that, the federal agency deemed pet food, ingredient and packaging facility workers as necessary for “ensuring continuity of functions critical to public health and safety, as well as economic and national security,” wrote Christopher Krebs, director of U.S. Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in a memorandum released March 19.
“All decisions should appropriately balance public safety while ensuring the continued delivery of critical infrastructure services and functions,” Krebs wrote.
The memorandum defined and enumerated infrastructure workers needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal memo was not an order or directive. Instead, Homeland Security intended to advise and guide State, local, tribal and territorial governments in their own response strategies.
The Homeland Security memorandum listed various professions related to the pet food industry:
“Food manufacturer employees and their supplier employees—to include… pet and animal feed processing facilities; human food facilities producing by-products for animal food… and the production of food packaging.
“Farm workers to include those employed in animal food, feed, and ingredient production, packaging, and distribution; manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of veterinary drugs; truck delivery and transport…
“Animal agriculture workers to include those employed in veterinary health; manufacturing and distribution of animal medical materials, animal vaccines, animal drugs, feed ingredients, feed, and bedding, etc…”
A second dog tested positive for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in Hong Kong, reported the South China Morning Post. Doctor’s diagnosed the dog’s owner with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Health officials analyzed oral and nasal swabs from the dog, a 2-year-old German Shepherd, and another dog from the same home in Pok Fu Lam, a residential district of Hong Kong. The German Shepherd’s results confirmed the presence of the coronavirus, but the dog remained asymptomatic. The other dog’s tests came back clean. The dogs remain in quarantine. Hong Kong’ Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department health officials told the South China Morning Post that they believed this to be another case of human-to-dog transmission.
Tim Wall covers the dog, cat and other pet food industries as a senior reporter for WATT Global Media. His work has appeared in Scientific American, Live Science, Discovery News, Honduras Weekly, Global Journalist and other outlets. He holds an M.A. in journalism and an M.S. in natural resources, both from the University of Missouri - Columbia, along with a bachelor's degree in biology.
Wall served in the Peace Corps in Honduras from 2005 to 2007, where he coordinated with the town government of Moroceli to organize a municipal trash collection system, taught environmental science, translated for medical brigades and facilitated sustainable agriculture, along with other projects.
Contact Wall via https://www.wattglobalmedia.com/contact-us/
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