Organic Lifestyle Magazine

SARS-COV-2 Confirmed in Minks Farmed for Fur in the Netherlands

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Last updated on: July 15, 2020

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Scientists have confirmed that minks on two fur farms in the Netherlands contracted SARS-COV-2 and passed the disease back to humans. Farmers in the south of the Netherlands noticed minks exhibiting respiratory symptoms in April and had veterinarians test the animals for SARS-CoV-2, influenza A, adenoviral infection, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All tests came back negative – except for SARS-COV-2. Both farms had had workers that had shown symptoms of coronavirus or had been hospitalized. Wim van der Poel, veterinarian and one of the author’s of the study published in Eurosurveillance, speculates that the disease spread through the air.

The animals are in cages with wire tops and closed walls between them…So it probably spread through droplet or aerosol transmission, from the top of one cage to another, when an animal is coughing or heavily breathing.”

Wim van der Poel

There is also evidence to suggest that the virus was passed back to humans from minks on the farms.

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At NB2, one worker had been diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalised on 31 March (Figure 1). A clinical sample was retrieved, but the viral load was too low for sequencing analysis. At farm NB1, one person who stayed on the farm, showed mild respiratory disease and was diagnosed with SARS-CoV by 28 April. Based on preliminary sequencing results, this person was assumed to have attracted the virus from mink.”

Eurosurveillance

Since the news, the Dutch government has announced that all mink farms in the Netherlands will be screened, and all employees are required to use protective clothing. In addition, more than 500,000 minks have been culled to prevent the potential spread of coronavirus to humans.




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Kristina Martin

Kristina Martin

Kristina works at Green Lifestyle Market. A few years ago Kristina was no stranger to illness, but she decided to pursue health and vitality through natural means when she became pregnant. She quickly learned that she could prevent morning sickness and other common ailments other pregnant woman experienced with the right diet. After a healthy home birth, and a beautiful child, she never looked back. Kristina has not had so much as a cold since, and at two years old and unvaccinated, neither has her child. She's passionate about natural health, environmental conservation, and raising her healthy baby without pharmaceuticals.

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