[Nhcoll-l] Inquiring about COVID and specimen quarantine

Wed Apr 15 14:32:04 EDT 2020

Elizabeth et al:

Just to follow up on Dirk's message, I personally worry most about
restrictions related to fieldwork.  There already have been a number of
recommendations made by various government agencies restricting field-based
bat research.  I personally worry that restricting research at this level
actually will lead to knowledge gaps between the organismal biology
necessary to inform biomedical research.  Similar restrictions occurred
with rodents following the discovery of hantavirus in the 4-corners area.
Hopefully, the current restrictions are retooled to balance the need for
basic science, active surveillance, and vouchering of host specimens.

That said, CETAF and DiSSCo have formed an international task force to
address some of the questions you have.  I believe information on the task
force was posted on this forum.  Here is the link
<https://www.dissco.eu/joint-covid-19-task-force/> for anyone interested in
participating.

Take care,
Cody

Cody W. Thompson, PhD
Mammal Collections Manager
& Assistant Research Scientist
University of Michigan
Museum of Zoology
3600 Varsity Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
Office: (734) 615-2810
Fax: (734) 763-4080
Email: cwthomp at umich.edu
Website: codythompson.org

“Museums have two main objectives: the increase of knowledge and the
diffusion of knowledge.”

-Alexander Ruthven

On Wed, Apr 15, 2020 at 9:12 AM Dirk Neumann <neumann at snsb.de> wrote:

> Dear Merritt,
>
> as far as I know there are currently restrictions on the shipment of
> parcels itself, as some parcel companies temporarily offer limited services
> to for specific countries or countries themselves closed borders for postal
> shipments/parcels. As these bans/restrictions strongly vary from company to
> company and also have a strong country-dependent component, it might be
> worth checking potentially existing import/export bans directly on the
> websites of respective couriers.
>
> Regarding the specimens itself, I have not heard anything about specific
> COVID restrictions. In general, animal health regulations and veterinarian
> law is designed to address transmissible diseases in general (including
> viral infections and/or potential vectors). This of course also applies for
> any preserved specimen we usually ship. From this perspective, I would not
> expect any COVID-specific restrictions in veterinarian law stipulating
> import and export of animals and parts thereof, others than currently in
> place. If there would be amendments, these would have to fit into the
> current regulatory framework of veterinarian law (why should Ebola infected
> bats be treated different then potentially COVID infected ones?).
>
> With regard to existing regulatory frameworks (at least this is the case
> for  any kind of live/fresh dead/dead preserved/dead fixed shipments
> animals between North America and Europe), there are two basic principles:
>
> 1. Health Certificates issues by veterinarian authorities confirming that
> the animal/specimen/part thereof poses no health risk (and could not act as
> vector) (proof of save sourcing)
> 2. The animal material is treated in a way that it poses no health risk
> (proof of safe treatment)
>
> The latter usually requires treatments that definitely inactivate any germ
> or virus, e.g. cooking, fixing, etc. 'Inactive' and 'lifeless' is a
> fundamental requirement for a good museum specimen. This must be properly
> documented when specimens are shipped via international borders to avoid
> any hassles with vets anyway. Thus, I would not think that there will be
> COVID-specific exemptions for fixed / preserved museum specimens. Otherwise
> this would have merged for similar transmissible virus diseases we saw
> earlier, e.g. during times of bird flue, swine flue, Ebola etc. We imported
> fixed fish when Ebola was still viral in Central Africa without any
> problems based on current legislation and the aforementioned concepts.
>
> If any kind of fresh material. i.e. non-fixed with potentially active
> protein-components inside specimens, it is advised to get into contact with
> your local veterinarian inspection post *before* materials are sent, as
> enforcement of (federal) veterinarian law usually has a local component of
> those implementing the rules during on-spot inspections.
>
> Hope this helps
> Dirk
>
>
> Am 15.04.2020 um 14:27 schrieb Elizabeth Merritt:
>
> Hello all,
>
>
>
> The Alliance is compiling a list of collections-related COVID issues, and
> I hope you can help me add the issues relevant to  natural history
> specimens. Has anyone been discussing the current or future impact of COVID
> on shipment and intake of specimens?  E.g., bans on shipment of some
> specimens (based on taxa, locality) as we learn more about what species can
> be vectors for coronavirus; recommendations for quarantine or treatment of
> some incoming specimens; need for research to inform these decisions.
>
>
>
> Thank you for any information you can provide.
>
>
>
> Elizabeth
>
>
>
> Elizabeth Merritt
>
> Vice President, Strategic Foresight and
>
> Founding Director, Center for the Future of Museums
>
>
>
> American Alliance of Museums
>
> 2451 Crystal Drive, Suite 1005
>
> Arlington, VA 22202
>
> (202)218-7661
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> --
>
>
> Dirk Neumann
>
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> ---------
>
> Dirk Neumann
>
> Tel: +49-89-8107-111
> Fax: +49-89-8107-300
> neumann(a)snsb.de
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> postal address:
>
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