MANGALURU: The seafood industry across the world is undergoing turmoil, especially after reports emerged that a wet market in Wuhan, China, may have been the source of Covid-19. This forced a team of experts from across the world, including Dr Iddya Karunasagar, senior director, international relations, Nitte (deemed to be) University, to undertake a study. The experts have clarified that the novel coronavirus, the cause of Covid-19 in humans, does not infect aquatic life, nor contaminate their products.

Iddya Karunasagar, who served as a senior food safety officer, for over a decade, at FAO in Rome, said, “The novel coronavirus belongs to the family Coronaviridae and genus Betacoronavirus. Beta Coronaviruses are only reported to infect mammals. Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that the novel coronavirus can infect seafood species, including finfish, crustaceans, molluscs and amphibians. Therefore, these animals do not play an epidemiological role in spreading Covid-19 in humans.

Seafood species and their products, may potentially become contaminated, especially when handled by people who are infected with the novel coronavirus. Nevertheless, with proper food handling and sanitation, the likelihood of contamination of aquatic animals or their products, with the novel coronavirus, is negligible. Further, seafood is consumed after cooking, and the novel coronavirus is killed at a temperature of 70⁰C, and during cooking, temperatures go over this temperature, and hence cooked seafood is safe to consume,” he said.

“Seafood is safe to consume, as long as it is prepared and served in accordance with recommended hygiene and food safety measures. Even in countries that had over a lakh people infected by the novel coronavirus, there is no evidence of transmission of the virus through seafood,” Karunasagar added.