MPs sound alarm over 'very serious risk' of new pandemic from animal fur trade

Dozens of MPs and peers have raised the alarm over “a very serious risk to public health” from the trade in real fur after viruses with a high risk of spreading to humans were found on Chinese fur farms.

More than 40 politicians have warned the government that fur farm practices could spark future pandemics by allowing new pathogens to emerge, according to eminent scientists.

In particular, outbreaks of bird flu on hundreds of European fur farms pose similar risks to human health, the MPs and peers say.

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In the US, one person has died of bird flu after it mutated and spread to cattle, prompting California to declare an emergency.

Under Boris Johnson when he was prime minister, the Conservatives dropped plans to ban imports and sales of fur.

They also failed to release the 30,000 responses to a formal call for evidence on the fur trade in Britain.

Labour have also stalled on a pre-election promise to ban fur.

In a letter to environment secretary Steve Reed, the cross-party group of 42 MPs and peers call for government backing for a new bill banning fur, and cite a recent study that concluded fur farms pose a “clear epidemic or pandemic risk” and “an obvious route [for the] next pandemic to occur”.

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The authors of the letter, which claims the UK is “outsourcing suffering”, state: “The fur trade is not only an affront to animal welfare [but also] recent scientific investigations demonstrate that this industry presents a very serious risk to public health.

“Eminent virologists, including from the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London, have recently issued grave warnings that the species involved and the conditions typical on fur farms make the practice highly conducive to the creation and spread of novel pathogens, and concluded that fur farming increase[s] the likelihood of future pandemics.”

A study published in Nature in September on viruses found on Chinese fur farms identified 39 viruses as “high risk” for the potential to spread to humans, including 13 potentially high-risk novel viruses, the letter warns.

In 2023, Imperial College London virologists urged that “fur farming, particularly mink, be eliminated in the interest of pandemic preparedness”.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, millions of mink in Denmark, the world’s second-biggest producer of the animal fur, were culled because they are infected with coronavirus.

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In all, outbreaks of both Covid and bird flu on 540 European fur farms led to the killing of 20 million animals whose bodies were disposed of.

In June 2023, Labour’s then shadow environment minister, Alex Sobel, said: “A Labour Government would take the necessary action on the importation of fur into Britain. We are committed to this... A Labour Britain will be a compassionate, fur-free Britain.”

MP Ruth Jones, whose private member’s bill banning fur is set to have its second reading in Parliament in June, said: “Fur belongs on animals, not bobble hats.

“Public sentiment against the awful fur trade is so strong, I hope the government are listening to that and to the virologists warning us to stop fur farms before they incubate the next pandemic.”

It’s understood the government will set out its formal position on the bill when it is debated and that ministers are awaiting a report by the Animal Welfare Committee, commissioned under the Conservatives, on “responsible sourcing” of fur.

Signatories to the letter include Baroness Redfern and MP Bob Blackman.

HMRC records show that almost £40m of fur was imported to the UK in 2023 from countries including China, Finland, Spain, Greece and Poland.