Oregon government officials have confirmed that a coronavirus-infected mink escaped from a farm that was quarantined in November after an outbreak that affected mink and humans.
According to the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the runaway mink was caught by a team of state biologists on Dec. 13 and tested positive for low levels of the virus just over a week later.
Five opossums and two cats were also caught around the same time as the mink. None of the other animals tested positive for COVID-19.
“There is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 is circulating or established in nature,” said Dr. Ryan Scholz, a veterinarian from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said in a statement.
“We take this situation very seriously and continue to capture and capture lands.”
Government officials did not want to disclose the location of the farm, citing medical privacy.
Animal welfare experts warn that mink on the farm have ‘serious concerns about the transmission of diseases and safety protocols’.
COVID-19: Dead mink infected with a mutated form rise from graves to mass excrement
The outbreak could affect wildlife populations, says Jonathan Evans, a legal director and attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, and could also “pose new risks” for more COVID-19 mutations.
“With a nationwide increase in COVID-19, Oregon officials need to do more to reduce and control disease outbreaks from factory farms by requiring increased safety protocols for fur farms and better reporting on where these disease outbreaks occur,” he said. he said in a statement to USA TODAY.
In Denmark, where an eruption of the mink was first reported, the mass extermination and burial of the entire nation’s population of the country caused the mink to “emerge” from shallow graves. A government official later resigned after his handling of the situation.
Officials have confirmed that the mink on the Oregon farm has recovered from the November outbreak. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration prescribe a further round before the farm is no longer closed.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID: Oregon mines infected with coronavirus escape from farm where