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More than 15,000 minks in the United States have died from the coronavirus since August, and authorities are holding about a dozen farms under quarantine while they investigate the cases, state agriculture officials said.
World health officials are considering animals a potential risk to people after Denmark last week embarked on a plan to eliminate all of its 17 million minks, saying a mutated coronavirus strain could pass to humans. and evade future COVID-19 vaccines.
The US states of Utah, Wisconsin and Michigan, where the coronavirus has killed minks, said they do not plan to euthanize animals and are monitoring the situation in Denmark.
“We believe that quarantining the affected mink farms, in addition to implementing strict biosecurity measures, will allow for SARS-CoV-2 control in these locations,” the US Department of Agriculture told Reuters on Tuesday.
The USDA said it is working with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state officials and the mink industry to test and monitor infected farms.
The United States has 359,850 minks raised to produce babies, known as kits, and produced 2.7 million skins last year. Wisconsin is the largest mink producing state, followed by Utah.
Sick minks in Wisconsin and Utah were exposed to people with probable or confirmed cases of COVID-19, the USDA said. In Michigan, it is still unknown whether the minks were infected by humans, according to the agency.
In Utah, the first U.S. state to confirm mink infections in August, about 10,700 mink have died on nine farms, said Dean Taylor, a state veterinarian.
“In all nine, everything still suggests a one-way journey from people to minks,” he said. Tests for coronavirus have been done on dying minks at random in affected farms, Taylor said. Like people, some minks are asymptomatic or mildly affected, he said.
A man handles slaughtered mink on the farm of Henrik Nordgaard Hansen and Ann-Mona Kulsoe Larsen near Naestved, Denmark [File: Ritzau Scanpix/Reuters]
The CDC said it was supporting state investigations into sick mink, including testing of animals and people.
“These investigations will help us learn more about the dynamics of transmission between mink, other farm animals, and people,” the CDC said. “Currently, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to people.”
The coronavirus is believed to have first jumped from animals to humans in China, possibly via bats or another animal at a food market in Wuhan, although many questions remain.
In Wisconsin, about 5,000 minks have died on two farms, said state veterinarian Darlene Konkle.
A farm is composting the dead mink to dispose of the carcasses without spreading the virus, Konkle said. Authorities are working with the second farm to determine how to dispose of the minks, and in the meantime the dead animals are kept in a metal container, he said.
“They’re basically in a metal container, a roll-off type container, which is sealed at this point,” Konkle said.
Michigan declined to reveal how many minks have died, citing privacy rules.
US authorities are urging farmers to wear protective equipment such as masks and gloves when handling minks to avoid infecting the animals.
State officials said they are working with the USDA to determine if farmers can sell the skins of the infected minks. The furs are used to make fur coats and other items.
“It is our wish and certainly the wish of the owners to be able to use those skins,” Konkle said.
The coronavirus has also infected cats, dogs, a lion and a tiger, according to the USDA. Experts say that minks appear to be the most susceptible animals so far.
“Everything we learn about mink will help understand the virus in all species,” Taylor said. “It will give the people a better response to stop this pandemic.”
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