AMP added lots of new information to our password-protected FAQ today. We’ve heard several questions from institutions being targeted with pandemic-related animal rights claims. Some organizations have been named in press releases. Others have received letters or been criticized in communications sent by research opponents to federal agencies. 

In response, we’re offering advice on how to manage these issues. Visit the password-protected FAQ portion of our website for more information. Contact us if you would like to request access. Note: This FAQ was created to assist communications staff and also research and veterinary administrators.    

General News 

As we mentioned yesterday, grim news was likely coming in the form of new COVID-19 projections and we received that data late Tuesday. At this point, experts predict the disease is likely to cause 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S., even with mitigation efforts. If we did not act, projections suggest 1.5 million to 2.2 million Americans could die. As the New York Times noted, even under the best-case scenario, more Americans will die from coronavirus in the weeks and months ahead than those who died in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. More information from The Washington Post. Meanwhile, in a BBC article UN Secretary General António Guterres warned the outbreak is the biggest world challenge since World War Two.   (more…)

The Lab Rat Chat podcast recently posted an episode which included discussion about how and why animals are necessary for the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Jeff Marshall and his cohost Danielle Dady spoke about this topic with Dr. Rudolf Bohm, Associate Director and Chief Veterinary Medical Officer at the Tulane National Primate Research Center. 

The discussion took place in early March, before coronavirus became a serious U.S. health threat. 

The full episode and all other editions of the podcast can be found here. Lab Rat Chat was launched through AMP’s Michael D. Hayre Fellowship in Public Outreach. 

General News 

According to the New York Times, Americans will today get a closer look at new statistical models for COVID-19 that led governors and mayors across the country to order more than 250 million people to stay home. The information is expected to be grim. Meanwhile, in an interview with NPR, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield says that according to the data his agency is seeing, approximately one in four of those infected with the virus remain asymptomatic. 

Some of the most striking images related to this outbreak demonstrate how public life has essentially vanished as nations around the globe practice social distancing. A New York Times photo essay shows the current scenes at Pike Place Market in Seattle.   (more…)

General News 

The situation remains dire in New York, which is the current epicenter for the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., as doctors and nurses fall ill. It’s hoped that a Navy hospital ship, which is arriving in Manhattan this morning, will provide some much-needed relief. At this point, the worldwide total of confirmed cases has surpassed 700K with the U.S. having the most. 

Research News 

A new study in Nature Medicine suggests the virus could have been transmitted from animals to humans long before it was first detected in the Wuhan province of China. Scientists say gradual evolutionary changes over years or perhaps even decades may have allowed the virus to eventually gain the ability to spread from human to human and threaten lives. 

Now that conditions are improving in China – at least for now – experts are trying to determine why the country’s world-class infectious disease reporting system did not work as well as it should have in the early stages of the outbreak. This article in the New York Times delves into this issue.
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We’re hoping to clear up some of the confusion about the critical need for animal research in developing COVID-19 vaccines. Some news coverage has suggested that animal studies are not/were not involved in developing and testing at least one of the vaccine candidates. Animal research opponents have also claimed animal trials are being “skipped” to rapidly develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine. This is untrue.  

AMP has added information to our public FAQ to address this issue. We’ve provided details and links to documentation demonstrating that even the vaccine candidate currently being tested in human clinical trials is also being tested in animals. Our information also demonstrates that the mRNA technology, which serves as the basis for this vaccine, required animal studies in its development as well.  

We invite research organizations to use this resource as they wish when proactively and reactively communicating about this issue. 

General News 

As the nation’s limited supply of ventilators continues to generate concern, New York hospitals are attempting to allow patients to share the medical devices in order to save more lives. Here’s a story on that. Meanwhile, across the country, residents in California worry they could see coronavirus outbreaks that are just as bad. CNN covered that story. 

In light of the shortages we are seeing in grocery stores, it’s unlikely that this next story comes as a surprise. According to NPR, the Coronavirus pandemic may be loosening links in the supply chain. And one more story that’s admittedly stress-inducing: We’ve come across some moving images that help illustrate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. These photos and stories were published in the New York Times and come out of Bergamo, Italy.  (more…)

In order to assist research organizations with their internal and external COVID-19 communications, AMP has created a library of free coronavirus-related images. None of the photos require attribution or photo credits.  

The library includes images of the coronavirus itself and also photos of PPE, social distancing, outbreak monitoring, handwashing, etc. 

Sample Images:

Research animal photos that can help organizations highlight the importance of animal studies in the development of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines can be found on AMP’s Come See Our World website. For those images, photo credit requirements vary. Information is provided along with each individual image. 

Link to COVID-19 Photo Library

At least 81,321 people in the United States are now known to have become infected with the coronavirus including more than 1,000 deaths. This makes the nation the world leader in confirmed coronavirus cases.

The news comes as two noteworthy stories were published today in Science Magazine. One is focused on the accelerating effort to locate COVID-19 treatments.. The other article is an editorial from Seth Berkley, Who is the chief executive officer of the Gavi Vaccine Alliance in Geneva, Switzerland. It’s titled COVID-19 needs a Manhattan Project | Science  

It’s likely the most tragic news about the COVID-19 outbreak will come from New York and California over the next few days and weeks. 

In California, coronavirus cases are said to be doubling every three to four days. Meanwhile, in New York, things continue to worsen in hospitals. This New York Times article provides an inside view of conditions at Brooklyn Hospital Center, a 175-year-old facility with a capacity of about 300 beds. It’s a hospital that treated Civil War wounded and also happens to be the place where NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci was born

Imaging technology is giving us an inside view of the severe damage COVID-19 can cause to the lungs. This CNN story includes a video showing how the disease impacted a healthy 59-year-old male.  

Impacts on Medical Education 

COVID-19 pandemic could have a major effect on medical education in the United States. STAT Writers Martin Kaminski and Frances Ue warn “Bringing new doctors into hospitals at the peak of COVID-19 is a bad idea.” (more…)