MIN OF AGRICULTURE UNVEILS MEASURES AMID THE CONTAMINATIONS OF 1000 MINK

USPA NEWS - COVID-19 infection spreads in mink farms in some European Union member states, mainly in Denmark, with the recent discovery of a variant virus, but also in the Netherlands and more recently in Sweden and in Greece - isolated cases have been detected in Italy and Spain. Cases are also reported in the United States of America. France, in turn, has detected American mink contaminated with COVID-19. Following the alerts notified by the Dutch health authorities last April, specific surveillance systems were put in place and biosecurity measures were reinforced in all mink farms in France from May. At the same time, the services of the Ministry of Health were alerted. Analyzes have been carried out since mid-November as part of a scientific program led by ANSES to define the health status of the 4 French mink farms vis-à-vis the SARS-COV-2 virus.

THE MINISTER'S MEASURES FOLLOWING THE CONTAMINATION OF A FARM OF 1000 MINK IN FRANCE BY SARS-COV-2 COVID-19 infection spreads in mink farms in some European Union member states, mainly in Denmark, with the recent discovery of a variant virus, but also in the Netherlands and more recently in Sweden and in Greece - isolated cases have been detected in Italy and Spain. Cases are also reported in the United States of America.France, in turn, has detected American mink contaminated with COVID-19. Following the alerts notified by the Dutch health authorities last April, specific surveillance systems were put in place and biosecurity measures were reinforced in all mink farms in France from May. At the same time, the services of the Ministry of Health were alerted.Analyzes have been carried out since mid-November as part of a scientific program led by ANSES to define the health status of the 4 French mink farms vis-à-vis the SARS-COV-2 virus. At this stage, these analyzes revealed that the virus was circulating in a farm in Eure-et-Loir. As soon as they learned of these results, the Ministers concerned immediately ordered the slaughter of all 1000 animals still present on the farm and the elimination of products from these animals, in order to protect public health against COVID-19. Another breeding is unharmed. Analyzes are still underway in the last two farms and results are expected later this week. If the results were positive in one of these two farms, the same slaughter measures as in the first concerned farm would be applied. The results of the analyzes carried out on the breeders of the 4 farms were all negative. Reinforced surveillance has been put in place for 4 people in connection with the contaminated farm and new analyzes are underway.----------------------------------- The virus sequencing analysis will be known by the end of the week and should rule out any contamination with the SARS-COV-2 variant. Surveillance and enhanced biosecurity measures are maintained in the other three farms. The ministers recall the importance of barrier gestures to fight against the spread of COVID-19: the aim is to protect mink from possible contamination from farm personnel, but also, as a precaution, to avoid contact between infected animals and farm staff. Source : French Minister of Agriculture