Covid-19 Found in Minks at Greek Farm

 

Covid-19 has now been detected in minks at a farm in northern Greece, according to an Agriculture Ministry official’s statement on Friday.

The testing of the animals was spurred by the discovery just days ago of the virus in Danish minks, which has led to the decision there to cull the entire population of 17 million minks. The strain of the virus detected in the Danish mink farms was different that the one found in Greece, however.

The Greek Agricultural official state that the strain of Covid-19 found in the Greek mink population had not mutated, adding that the 2,500 minks currently living at one farm in the northern Kozani region would be culled.

“Coronavirus has been detected in mink at two farms in northern Greece,” the agriculture ministry official told the Reuters news agency. He then disclosed that the breeder in charge of the farm had also contracted the coronavirus.

Tests are being conducted presently on all of the workers at the mink farm, according to the agriculture official.

The fur trade has deep historical roots in this part of Greece. It is still an important local industry in Kozani and the nearby region of Kastoria, where a second mink farm is located.

Officials estimated that Greece’s mink population may number in the hundreds of thousands.

Source: Greek Reporter