Rural Payments and Services

Ferret keepers across GB are being asked to sign up to a ferret register as a precaution against an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19.

The Great Britain Ferret (and other Mustelinae) Register allows keepers of ferrets and other members of the suborder, including polecats, stoats, mink, or hybrids of these animals, to submit details of their animals to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) on a voluntary basis.

Those who join the Register will receive updates and guidance in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak associated with kept ferrets or other Mustelinae. This information will be used to determine the size and location of the kept ferret population.

Your data will be used to help deal with an outbreak of animal disease, whether suspected or confirmed, and with the aim of keeping ferret (and other Mustelinae) keepers informed, and public health protected.

Any information provided by you would be on a voluntary basis. In the event of a confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 in ferrets, you may be contacted so that you can be provided with information, advice or to inform you of any proposed disease prevention measures.

If you are a keeper in Scotland please register here or call 01466 794323

Background

In Autumn 2020, events in Denmark confirmed that new variants of SARS-COV-2 - the virus that causes COVID-19 - can arise in mink and can infect humans.

Whilst mink farming is banned in the UK, recent research has demonstrated that ferrets are also highly susceptible to the virus and new variants can arise as the infection is transmitted between members of their own species.

It is important to note that human to human transmission remains the most significant route of infection.

Irrespective of whether they are already recorded on the GB Ferret Register, the movement of animals infected with SARS-CoV-2 may be restricted in line with The Zoonoses Order (1989).