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SALT LAKE CITY – At least five mink from two mink farms in Utah have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the animal virus linked to COVID-19 in humans.
The US Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Service lab confirmed the results earlier this week, after local labs learned of a large number of deaths in the mink population at both farms.
Mink are already known to be susceptible to the virus and tests in Utah, Washington state and Iowa, where the national lab is located, have shown the infection to be endemic in small animals. .
More mink are thought to be infected as two to three mink die every day in Utah, Utah Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Bradie Jill Jones said. She did not identify the affected farms and said infected animals would be composted on site to contain the outbreak.
This is the first detection of the novel coronavirus in the species in the United States, although the virus has been found in other animals, including four cats and two dogs in Utah, as well as in others States, according to the national lab. At least one tiger and lion in a New York zoo were also found to be carrying SARS-CoV-2 in early April.
“At this time, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19,” according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The USDA reports: “A small number of animals around the world have reportedly been infected with SARS-CoV-2, mainly after close contact with people with COVID-19.”
Affected mink from Utah have been quarantined to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
“My office is dedicated to containing SARS-CoV-2 by implementing strict biosecurity measures when necessary,” said Utah State Veterinarian Dr. Dean Taylor, who added that early detection of the virus in the species “will prove beneficial in the long term. “
COVID-19 has also been confirmed in farm staff, although the Utah Department of Agriculture believes there is no evidence that mink played a role in transmitting the virus. to humans.
Utah is the second-largest producer of mink skins among more than 200 farms in the United States, according to the USDA, which reported that the state produced 556,710 skins in 2019.
Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, has called for a ban on the fur farm trade because she believes animal health and human health are closely linked. Farms, she said, must be treated to avoid future outbreaks.
“There is no doubt that the fur industry is in rapid decline,” she said in a blog post on Monday. “The pandemic adds one more obvious reason to hasten its demise, in the United States and around the world.”
It is feared that the infection in mink in Utah could spread rapidly on farms, as it did in Europe. The first investigations revealed human-to-human transmission.
“Mink confined to fur farms are wild animals. It has now been confirmed that the COVID-19 virus has the potential to infect wildlife in North America, ”said Nick Atwood, an animal rights activist in Minneapolis who follows the fur farming industry. For years. He said the government should institute reporting obligations for mink farmers.
“People working with mink should take extra precautions against virus transmission,” he said.
Other animal species in the United States have tested positive for the virus, but these are the first confirmed cases of mink in the country. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in mink in the Netherlands in June, followed by Spain and Denmark. Tens of thousands of mink have been destroyed as a precaution so that they can spread the disease.
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