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Since the first case was discovered on a mink farm in Sölvesborg at the end of October, all herds in Sweden have been sampled. On Thursday, the Swedish Board of Agriculture declared that corona infection is now present in nine herds of mink, all in Blekinge.
That the nearby crews affected is not surprising, says Karl Ståhl, acting state epizootologist at the Swedish Veterinary Institute, SVA.
– In a herd of minks, viruses spread rapidly and after the first case we wanted to continue sampling.
Mink herds in Sweden, even those that are not infected, have been subject to restrictions as of Thursday. This means, among other things, that they are not allowed to move animals, do not share tools and have good hygiene routines.
– They are also not allowed to receive visitors, but they are allowed to move freely in society. Keep in mind that it already exists in society, it is people who have introduced the coronavirus to minks, says Karl Ståhl.
In Denmark, the government has decided that the approximately 17 million minks will be killed immediately after a large number of mink herds are confirmed to be infected with the virus. The message came after a report from the State Serum Institute indicating that there are fears that the coronavirus could mutate and transmit the infection to humans. A mutation could affect the effect of a future vaccine. To date, twelve people are said to have been infected with the mutated virus.
There is no such decision in Sweden for various reasons, including size. Denmark is the world’s largest exporter of mink fur and has more than a thousand breeders, Sweden has around 40 mink farms with a total of around 650,000 animals.
At the beginning of November, the so-called annual boxcar is also held when all mink except breeding animals are killed and the skins are prepared for export. Karl Ståhl says that about 80 percent of the minks in Sweden will be culled in the coming weeks.
– The news from Denmark is that they also destroy the skin, he says.
However, the Swedish authorities are closely monitoring developments in Denmark and are ready to reconsider the assessment.
– Right now, our strategy is not affected and, regardless of whether we have to detect several cases of infected animals, it is still not possible to carry out a faster slaughter. At the same time, the situation for mink farms in Sweden is not calm. Concern both about the infection and the consequences of what is happening in Denmark is great among mink farmers, says Karl Ståhl.
That only diminishes is affected of the coronavirus and becomes ill because in some animal species there is a greater susceptibility to the virus entering and infecting the cell. Cats, monkeys, and hamsters are also susceptible. However, neither pigs nor cattle.
– Among production herds, there is no danger of the spread of infection, except in mink, says Karl Ståhl.
