Almost 10,000 minks in Utah fur farms dead from coronavirus

Almost 10,000 minks in Utah fur farms dead from coronavirus prompting dozens of farmers to enter into quarantines.

OUTBREAKS are devastating mink populations with more than 12,000 killed from the virus in Utah and Wisconsin combined.

After first contracting the virus in August, nearly 10,000 mink have died in Utah fur farms, a spokesperson from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) told CBS News yesterday, Friday, October 9.

While it is suspected the Covid-19 infections were spread from workers at the mink farms in July, state veterinarian Dr Dean Taylor told The Associated Press that “we genuinely don’t feel like there is much of a risk going from the mink to the people”.

He also said that, so far, no animals in Utah have been euthanised because of the disease, adding “it doesn’t appear necessary”.

All the same, the USDA and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued guidelines for farmers handling mink and other mustelids.

It’s not clear exactly how many mink are infected, as “testing them all is not feasible” due to the large number of mink in the state.

Fur from the deceased infected animals will be processed to remove any traces of the virus and then used for coats and other garments, according to Fur Commission USA, a mink farming trade group.

America produces more than three million mink pelts annually.

Last month, a study confirmed that animal to human coronavirus transmission is possible however further research is needed to confirm the extend of this in the wider population.

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