MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th July, 2020) Two more mink farms in the Netherlands have been confirmed to contain coronavirus outbreaks, resulting in 19,000 animals culled, Dutch media reported on Monday, citing the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and food Quality.
According to the Dutch news outlet, citing the ministry, two new outbreaks were detected in mink farms located in the southern Dutch town of Gemert in the North Brabant province, with 19,000 minks killed on Monday as a result.
This takes the total number of coronavirus-infected mink farms in the Netherlands to 20 and the number of culled animals to over 600,000, according to the report.
The first outbreak at a Dutch mink farm was detected in April, also in North Brabant, as confirmed by the Agriculture Ministry. In May, the ministry confirmed the first two cases � and so far the only ones � of a mink infecting a human with the coronavirus.
The government responded by launching a policy of animal culling at infected farms and of long-term isolation at non-infected farms. In parallel, monitoring and strict sanitary protocols have been put in place.
In 2013, the Netherlands began eliminating its fur cultivating farms with the outlook of finishing by 2024.
As of Monday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands has reached 50,493, including 6,117 deaths, according to the latest situation report by the World Health Organization.
