As we enter a new year, yesterday’s epidemics continue to dominate the headlines. Covid may still be with us, but the foot-and-mouth epidemic is back with a vengeance. Since the beginning of 2024, an influenza A virus (H5N1) has been circulating in dairy cows in the United States, with transmission events involving humans, cats and poultry. Since then, other episodes have been recorded, such as in Germany, where the virus was detected at the start of the year in a herd of water buffalo near Berlin.
➡️ Overall, pandemics linked to zoonotic influenza occur on average every 3.8 years, according to research. And given the regularity of these epidemics, it is important to prepare for future crises by providing responsible, long-term solutions.
➡️ One of the aims of our association, Pioneering Safe Food (PSF), is precisely to develop systemic and sustainable approaches to tackle complex food safety challenges. It is the first non-profit organization gathering diverse stakeholders all along the food chain committed to dealing with long term issues and due to climate change and population increase.
➡️ At an event in Paris on 18 December, we presented a number of research projects. One of these focuses on the control of potentially pandemic respiratory viruses on surfaces and in the air. This programme has clear objectives: the disinfection susceptibility of a range of viruses on surfaces in the air, essentially in the food sector (farm, factory and food service), i.e. the core area of PSF.
This project would be of a short duration – one or two years- and be of great interest to the food industry and the public in general !
➡️ The first phase of the study will involve identifying viral families from which a pandemic could emerge but also the disinfectant ranges and their environmental conditions that could be used throughout the food chain for surface, air and skin disinfection. Via suspension, surface and airborne disinfectant tests, we’ll then have to establish the range of disinfectant resistance between and within virus families before compiling and interpreting all disinfectant testing data and publishing them widely as guidance.
👉But this ambitious research programme cannot be completed without the support of experts: pandemic horizon scanners, academic virologists and disinfection experts, specialized disinfectant test houses aerobiologists, disinfectant suppliers or pandemic advisors, to name a few, are required.
So we look forward to hearing from you !