4.12.20

No Eggs for Coronavirus Vaccine


The US keeps millions of chickens in secret farms to make flu vaccines. But their eggs won't work for coronavirus.
Few people know where the chickens are kept - their locations are undisclosed as a matter of national security.
Each day, hundreds of thousands of their eggs are trucked to facilities, where they are protected by guards and multimillion-dollar, government-funded security systems.
But these eggs aren't for breakfast; they're the source of your common flu shot.
For the past 80 years, much of the world has relied on chicken eggs for the production of influenza vaccines.

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, scientists and governments around the world are racing to develop a vaccine - but eggs won't be the answer, said John Nicholls, a Hong Kong University clinical professor of pathology.
Due to having different receptors and other characteristics, the novel coronavirus isn't able to replicate inside eggs the way flu viruses can.


By Jessie Yeung, CNN, March 29, 2020



28.11.20

L'OIE et le Covid-19

[...] Un groupe d’experts a été créé pour évaluer les risques et implications de la COVID-19 pour le commerce des animaux et des produits d'origine animale. « L'OIE a élaboré des directives de haut niveau sur le test d'échantillons humains de COVID-19 dans des laboratoires vétérinaires pour aider les services de santé publique à répondre à la demande extraordinaire de tests, qui a été un aspect essentiel de la réponse à la pandémie dans de nombreux pays. » [...]


[...] « L'OIE a élaboré des directives de haut niveau sur le test d'échantillons humains de COVID-19 dans des laboratoires vétérinaires pour aider les services de santé publique à répondre à la demande extraordinaire de tests, qui a été un aspect essentiel de la réponse à la pandémie dans de nombreux pays. » [...]


[...] L'OIE travaille sur des nouvelles lignes directrices visant à accroître les bonnes pratiques dans le commerce des espèces sauvages et faciliter la mise en place de systèmes de surveillance de la faune, ainsi que pour améliorer les connaissances sur les virus grâce à la recherche. [...]

Par Michaella Igoho-Moradel, Le Point vétérinaire, 03.06.2020


10.4.20

Confettis-filled Eggs



The History of Cascarones
Around Easter time, you may see children, as well as adults, running after each other with colored eggs in their hands, which then explode into confetti when they hit their desired target. These are called cascarones, or “confetti eggs”.
The idea was first seen in Asia and later brought to Italy by the explorer Marco Polo. The eggs were often given as gifts and were filled with perfumed powder. The custom then traveled to Spain and was later brought to Mexico in the mid-1800s by Emperor Maximilian’s wife. It was in Mexico that the perfumed powder was replaced with confetti.
The word cascaron comes from the Spanish word “cascara”, which means egg shell. In interior Mexico, one often sees these colored eggs thrown at fiestas during carnaval, just before lent. While you may see cascarones at the carnaval celebrations in the US, it is more common to see them around Easter. This is because, like many other Latin traditions, there has been a merging with the US holiday tradition of dyeing hard boiled eggs. Having one broken over your head is said to bring good luck.

Making Cascarones
To make cascarones, first open just the top of an egg. One trick is to tap the top (the small end) of the egg on a sharp corner. You can also make a small hole on the end using a pin, a small nail, or a knife. You want to keep the hole small so that the egg is sturdier. Next, drain the egg into a bowl so that you can use the eggs later in a meal, such as migas or flan. Next, rinse out the inside of the egg. Once the eggs have dried, you can decorate them using egg dye, water colors, or paint. When the dye or paint is dry, fill the inside with confetti. Finally, close the opening by placing glue around the edges and placing a small square of tissue paper over the hole. Wait until the glue has dried before smacking the cascarone on an unsuspecting person.
By Katie Warner