Key Points:
- The government of Denmark will cull 1 million plus minks.
- The decision has been taken due the outbreak of Covid-19 amongst the species.
- Mink Breeders will receive compensation for their operation and herd loss.
- 60 mink farms had been infected in North Jutland alone, and 46 others were being observed.
- Denmark is world’s largest producer of mink skins.
The Dutch government has ordered local farms to cull more than a million Mink after a series of Covid-19 outbreaks among animals in the Netherlands. Any mink farm within the 8 kilometres radius of a farm or herd that has confirmed or yet to be confirmed cases of Coronavirus will have to be culled as per the latest orders.
The recent outbreak started in June when a person who was Covid-19 positive was associated with a mink farm in North Jutland, said a report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). At that time, the Dutch government introduced a number of measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus among livestock, however, the cases had already increased by the start of October. Nearly 60 mink farms had been infected in North Jutland alone, and 46 others were being observed.
“We have continuously launched initiatives to manage and contain the spread of infection,” Mogens Jensen, the Danish Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries said.
The prevention of the virus has not been successful enough among the North Jutland mink herds and hence, the decision of culling minks has been taken.
- Mink Breeders will receive compensation for their operation and herd loss.
- The culling process will be monitored by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration and the Danish Emergency Management Agency.
- “It is a difficult decision that the government has made, but we fully support it,” Tage Pedersen, chairman of the Danish Mink Breeders Association, told CNN.
Denmark is world’s largest producer of mink skins and there are approximately 1,500 Danish fur farmers that produce about 19 million mink skins per year, according to the Danish Agriculture and Food Council.
The virus develops rapidly in mink, with most infected mink dying on October 9 in the farms of Utah and Wisconsin.
The reason behind the species being prone to Coronavirus is still unclear.
