COVID-19 cases have been detected among minks at a fur farm in Lithuania, the State Food and Veterinary Service said on Thursday
VILNIUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2020) COVID-19 cases have been detected among minks at a fur farm in Lithuania, the State food and Veterinary Service said on Thursday.
"The State Food and Veterinary Service informs that at a fur farm in the Jonava district, where animals belonging to companies UAB Danmink and AB Vilkijos ukis have been kept, following the death of 169 minks and the analysis of their samples, the animals were confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19," the press release said.
According to veterinary service chief Darius Remeika, one farm employee has tested positive for COVID-19 and all those who came into contact with them have self-isolated.
The fur farm is home to about 60,000 animals.
The Lithuanian veterinary service noted that "based on the risk assessment by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and available information about SARS-CoV-2 transmission routes and the complexity of the disease" the virus found in fur farms "does not pose a threat to human health, except for those who are directly employed at these enterprises."
In total, over 1.6 million minks are kept at 86 fur farms across the Baltic country. Fur farms are required to report on the deaths of minks daily.
COVID-19 cases have been recently detected at mink farms in Denmark, the United States, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy and Poland. Some of the countries have decided to cull animals at infected farms.
