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.”
Video: Denmark kills 15 million cultured mink for fear of coronavirus
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’.
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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 outbreak of the mink was first reported, the mass thinning of the entire nation’s population of the country was engaged in investigation and horror, which led to mines “emerging” from shallow graves. A government official later resigned after his handling of the situation.
Fortunately, officials confirmed that the mink at the Oregon farm recovered after the outbreak in November. 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.
Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote.
This article originally appeared in the US today: COVID: Oregon mines infected with coronavirus escape from farm where