An Oregon mink farm reported an outbreak of animals and COVID-19 workers.
Oregon Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Andrea Cantu-Schomus refused to say which county the farm is in or how many have tested positive, bringing up federal privacy regulations for fitness. Array The farm has about 12,000 animals, he said.
Eight of Oregon’s 11 mink farms are located in Marion County.
The farmer informed the ODA of symptoms of mink on November 19, Cantu-Schomus said.
The ODA took standards from 10 of the diseased minks and all tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the animal virus related to COVID-19 in humans. Cantu-Schomus couldn’t say how many minks were sick, but he did say all 10 were sick. a population pattern.
On 23 November, the ODA quarantined the farm, so that no animal or animal product can leave the farm.
On the same day, the Oregon Health Authority asked everyone on the farm to isolate themselves, Cantu-Schomus said.
OHA officials responded to a request for an interview.
Outbreaks have been reported in mink grown in several US states and countries. But it’s not the first time Earlier this month, Denmark announced that it would kill the 17 million mink raised there after confirmation that another 12 people had become inflamed with a mutated strain of COVID-19 that had spread from mink to humans This strain has not been discovered anywhere else.
Oregon has the fourth largest growing mink industry in the country, after Wisconsin, Utah and Michigan. These 3 states have had outbreaks on mink farms.
State and national environmental teams have sounded the alarm about imaginable infections in Oregon’s mink industry, the Statesman Journal reported last week.
“It’s so predictable,” said Lori Ann Burd of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the teams that urged Oregon to act. “In fact, we’ll keep up with the company to ask for answers and find out what it’s doing to mitigate this. “epidemic and the dangers to public health. “
In letters to Governor Kate Brown and public agencies, the teams called for immediate inspections of Oregon’s mink farms, as well as quarantines and a slow take-control of the industry.
Previous coverage: surveillance of Oregon mink farms as the mutant strain COVID-19 spreads to humans in Denmark
At the time, state officials said they intended to stick to the group’s recommendations. The Oregon state veterinarian has contacted mink farmers about the outbreaks, Cantu-Schomus said.
“We have been committed to the Oregon mink industry for some time, providing biosecurity data to prevent the arrival of SARS-CoV-2 and were able to respond,” state veterinarian Ryan Scholz said Friday in a written statement.
“The farmer did the right thing by reporting his symptoms early on and is now cooperating with us and the Oregon Health Authority to care for his animals and staff,” said Scholz. “So far, we have no connected mink mortality reports. ” the virus, however, this can replace as the virus progresses. ‘
In Wisconsin, some 3,400 farm mink died in the month after contracting the virus, and in Utah, some 10,000 mink have died since August.
In addition to Denmark and the United States, COVID-19 infections in mink grown in the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy and Greece have been notified to the World Health Organization.
The whole mink of the Oregon epidemic seems to have recovered, Cantu-Schomus said. The ODA will review the mink 7 to 10 days after symptoms resolve and, if necessary, will continue to check every 14 days until there are no more swollen mink.
The length of the pattern will be significantly longer and will ensure with a 95% point of trust than if the virus were present, it would be detected, he said.
“It is suspected that inflamed personnel brought SARS-CoV-2 to the mink of the farm, and then the virus began to spread between the mink,” Cantu-Schomus said.
The ODA is running with the OHA, the Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. But it’s not the first time And the Centers for Disease Control for the dynamics of transmission between mink, other farm animals and humans, he said.
Last week, ODA officials said they had no plans to do any inspection or review the mink unless symptoms were reported. Cantu-Schomus might not say Friday if this is still the case.
Michael Whelan is CEO of the Fur Commission USA based in Medford, a national non-profit organization representing mink breeders.
He said the organization presented loose COVID-19 tests to farmers and employees.
“All we can do is keep reminding farmers that this is serious and that they want to eliminate everyone who approaches the mink,” Whelan said.
Cantu-Schomus can’t tell how many breeding mink there are in Oregon.
“There is no evidence that animals, adding mink, play a significant role in COVID-19 for humans,” he said. “Currently in the United States, there is no evidence of the presence of mink in humans. However, investigations are ongoing. “
Tracy Loew is a reporter for the Statesman Journal. Se can contact her at tloew@statesmanjournal. com, 503-399-6779 or on Twitter at Tracy_Loew. Support journalism by subscribing to the Statesman Journal.