COVID-19 kills thousands of minks across US farms as Denmark readies for cull

Thousands of minks in the United States have died because of coronavirus outbreak in farms, forcing several sites in the country to quarantine. This comes as Denmark prepares for the nationwide killing of minks after a mutated strain of COVID-19 was detected across farms in the northern part of the country. As per reports, the United States is not planning to cull animals, but officials have said they are closely monitoring the situation. 

Read: Denmark Announces Lockdown After COVID-19 Outbreak In Mink Farms

The United States had announced first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in minks at two Utah farms back in August. The affected farms had also reported positive cases inb people who had contact with minks, following which the sites were forced to quarantine. Since then, thousands of animals have been reported dead in farms across Utah, Wisconsin and Michigan. State Agriculture Department officials have said that strict isolation measures will help in controlling the spread across the affected farms. 

Read: WHO In Touch With Denmark Authorities Over New Strain Of COVID-19 Detected In Minks

COVID in minks

Earlier this month, Denmark reported that it has detected a mutated version of COVID-19 in mink population across farms in the north and announced to cull nearly 17 million animals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) later informed that it is in touch with Danish officials over the discovery of the new mutated version of COVID-19 in the country. WHO said that several cases of animal-to-human transmission have been reported in the region, adding it could impact the ongoing vaccine development programmes as the efficacy of drugs could be hampered. 

Read: UK Bans Non-resident Arrivals From Denmark Over Mink Fears

This is not the first time when COVID-19 cases have been detected in minks. Earlier, mink farms in Spain and the Netherlands also reported COVID cases among animals and staff members. Officials in both countries also opted for the culling of the mink population at farms, where the cases were detected in order to prevent further animal-to-human transmissions.  

Read: Covid-19: Too Early To Judge If Mutation In Mink Can Impact Vaccine, WHO Chief Scientist

(Image Credit: AP)