The first known case of the novel coronavirus in a non-captive wild animal has been confirmed, according to a warning issued by the United States Department of Agriculture. He says a wild mink in Utah tested positive during wildlife screening around his farm, he says.
The strain of the virus in the virus mink in farms around the state is “unclear”, according to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory, the USDA division that conducted the tests.
U.S. In, a coronavirus outbreak has been reported in 16 mink farms in Utah, Wisconsin, Oregon and Michigan, with most cases in Utah. But so far, despite ongoing testing of mink, raccoon, skunks and other animals around infected farms, no cases of wild mink have been found.
Utah State Veterinarian Dean Taylor says the mink was “trapped in the immediate vicinity of one of the affected farms,” and was the only animal to test positive in the area.
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) wrote in its warning, “Using the official name, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) wrote in its warning that, at present, there is no evidence that Is or is established in the wild population surrounding infected mink farms. Virus.
The virus has been found in many captive wild animals, including lions, tigers and snow leopards, as well as in domestic dogs and cats. Scientists are focusing on what other animals may be susceptible to, endangered species and people who could give it back to humans. So far, however, no animal in the wild has been found to have it.
USDA spokeswoman Lindsay Coe said the outbreak of mink farms in Europe and other areas has led to the capture of captive mink for SARS-Cove-2 and is not unexpected. “These findings underscore the importance of both continuing surveillance around infected mink farms and taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus in wildlife.”
It is not clear how wild mink can come into contact with infected mink on a fur farm.
The USDA says it is committed to further efforts to prevent the spread of wild mink populations in North America, although it has not announced a strategy to do so.
Mink worldwide
Last week, Canada erupted its first farmed mink in Fraser Valley, British Columbia. And since this spring, millions of farmer mink have been victimized to control the spread of the virus in Europe, including Denmark, the continent’s largest mink pelt producer.
The Netherlands recently announced that it has completed the finishing of its four million mink and shut down its mink industry forever. Spain and Greece also seized more than 100,000 animals on their infected farms. In those cases, country officials said Mink was believed to be ill by farm laborers.
Yet the disease does not always spread from infected farm laborers to mink. In Denmark, according to genomic analysis, Mink also made farm workers sick. The strain of the virus in those animals has spread to the community: more than 200 human cases of the virus have been linked to Vavna mink, with Dennis officials concerned with a unique type of 12 viruses that could compromise future vaccine effectiveness.
It was described by the World Health Organization as “moderately inactivating antibodies.” As a result, Denmark decided to sell its entire mink stock: more than 15 million mink.
Mike Brown, a spokesman for the International Fur Fed Federation, says “Fur farms in the US adhere to strict biosecurity protocols for the benefit of both humans and animals,” noting that the group is working to get more details about this wild case from the USDA. . He says the Fur Commission USA, the primary fur trade organization in the United States, is also working with industry to develop a coronavirus vaccine for mink, which is not yet ready for testing.
Diet Taylor, Utah’s state veterinarian, says advice for people concerned about their pets remains the same. “They behave like people,” he says. Try to keep it on your property whenever possible and “keep a distance with them in your own home if any of the household members are ill.”
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