RIGHT SPEAK: Dangerous New Coronavirus is One of More Than 30 Pathogens Found in New Study of Chinese Fur Farms; Michigan Supreme Court Rules Out Paying Businesses Hurt by COVID Closures, and other C-Virus related stories

Dangerous new coronavirus is one of more than 30 pathogens found in new study of Chinese fur farms:

A concerning new bat coronavirus is among 36 novel viruses detected among animals including racoon dogs, mink and guinea pigs in Chinese fur farms, scientists have warned.

The results, published in Nature journal on Wednesday, reiterate the risk posed by small scale fur farms, which continue to proliferate in China and southeast Asia. It also expands the list of animals known to be susceptible to zoonotic pathogens, including novel coronaviruses, bird flu and Japanese encephalitis.

“Fur farms represent a far richer zoonotic soup than we thought,” said Prof Eddie Holmes, an evolutionary biologist and virologist at the University of Sydney. He co-authored the report alongside colleagues in China.

The researchers not only looked at commonly farmed and studied animals (such as mink, muskrats, foxes and raccoon dogs), but also species including guinea pigs and deer. These are less intensely farmed but remain commonplace in smaller backyard farms across China, and have rarely been the subject of disease surveillance efforts.

“What [the study] tells you is that these species are also full of viruses, and some of these viruses are jumping species boundaries… which is a real worry,” Dr Holmes said. “I think that this [fur] trade is a roll of the dice. We’re exposing ourselves to viruses that come from wildlife, which is an obvious route [for the] next pandemic to occur.”

The team of researchers sequenced samples from 461 animals from fur farms, mostly in north eastern China. All had died after suffering from disease. The scientists identified 125 different virus species, including 36 new pathogens.

Of the viruses detected, 39 were deemed to have high spillover potential because they were “generalists” spotted in a diversity of animals.

The team also detected seven coronaviruses, with the original hosts traced to rodents, rabbits and canines. Though none were closely related to Sars-Cov-2, a concerning new bat coronavirus was discovered. Called HKU5, it was found in the lungs and intestines of mink which had died from a pneumonia outbreak on a fur farm.

HKU5 ‘is a red flag’

“The question always is, can we work out what sorts of viruses we should worry most about, which are most likely to emerge [in humans]? It’s very hard to say, but if viruses are able to jump big evolutionary distances, it suggests they can replicate in different cell types. That is a risk,” said Dr Holmes.

“HKU5 needs to go on a watchlist immediately. It is absolutely a red flag,” he added, calling for more rigorous surveillance of fur farms inside China and across the globe.

Prof Linfa Wang, director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Programme at Singapore’s Duke-NUS Medical School, who was not involved in the study, said he agreed that HKU5 was a red flag, but that “we need more data from lab-based infection studies to corroborate this”. --->READ MORE HERE

Photo by SETH HERALD/AFP via Getty Images

Michigan Supreme Court Rules Out Paying Businesses Hurt by COVID Closures:

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled against businesses seeking payments after they were hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Friday, the Michigan Supreme Court issued two separate 5-2 orders which allowed appeals court's opinions to stand that were in favor of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 restrictions in the state.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, widespread closures were ordered in Michigan, impacting businesses like gyms, restaurants, bowling alleys and movie theaters. The closures came in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

In a series of lawsuits, businesses recognized the state's responsibility in managing public health threats but argued that they were entitled to compensation for the government's taking of private property. However, a court of appeals in the state ruled that the state government was not taking property in 2022.

"The property clearly still had value, even if no revenue or profit was generated during the closure," the appeals court said in a ruling in 2022. "And any lost value relative to the real and personal property was likely recovered as soon as the temporary prohibition was lifted."

On Friday, the Michigan Supreme Court did not issue an official ruling on the cases, but instead shared a two-sentence order agreeing with the appeals court. However, Justices David Viviano and Richard Bernstein argued that the state's highest court should have heard full appeals arguments. --->READ MORE HERE