For a veterinary help to the Covid-19 diagnosis Position of the French National Academy of Medicine
March 30, 2020
The French National Academy of Medicine supports the position expressed by the French Veterinary Academy in its press release of March 28, 2020 on Covid-19 tests. The two Academies put into practice the "One Health" concept advocated by international organisations such as the Word Health Organisation and the World Organisation for Animal Health, by consulting on the responses to be provided in the current pandemic situation.
In several Member States of the European Union (Germany, Belgium, Italy...), producers of veterinary reagents are authorised to manufacture Covid-19 diagnostic kits and veterinary laboratories can use them for human diagnosis. Manufacturers of large-scale diagnostic tests are accredited for many pathogens, including animal coronaviruses, and offer full guarantees of safety. In addition, veterinary laboratories accredited for the diagnosis of animal diseases, some of which are zoonotic, are able to carry out Covid-19 diagnosis in humans with the same guaranteed performance as Medical Biology Laboratories.
The French National Academy of Medicine therefore recommends that in France too, the Health Authorities issue an exceptional authorisation to these manufacturers and laboratories in the veterinary sector in the context of the current health emergency. This would be an invaluable contribution to controlling the Covid-19 epidemic in France.
