November 29th – A mink farm in the United States broke out of COVID-19 on the 27th. Many mink and many farm workers were infected with the novel coronavirus. At present, the farm has been quarantined.
A mink farm in Oregon has tested the novel coronavirus in 10 mink samples, and multiple infections have been reported among farm workers, CNN reported. The Oregon Department of Agriculture said that the farm is currently quarantined, “no animal or animal product can leave the farm until further notice”, and farmers and employees have been advised to self-isolate. Oregon Health is working with farm owners to ensure that all workers are equipped with adequate protective products.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture said that COVID-19 has been found in mink in seven countries this year, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Sweden and Spain, as well as three states in the United States: Utah, Michigan and Wisconsin. Among them, thousands of mink died on farms in Utah and Wisconsin, while farmers in Utah lost at least 8,000 mink to the epidemic. Oregon has the scale of farmed mink, second only to Wisconsin, Utah and Michigan. There are about 12,000 mink on this farm.
According to the CDC and the USDA, there is currently no evidence that animals, including mink, play a significant role in transmitting COVID-19 to humans, and the risk of the virus being transmitted to humans through animals is considered low.
