THE HAGUE, July 17, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Dutch authorities said Friday
they would cull more than 1,100 mink as the new coronavirus was
discovered on another farm in the Netherlands, making 25 in total.
The latest outbreak, in the small town of Westerbeek near the German
border, was discovered when mink cubs were tested before they were to
be transported to another location, the agriculture ministry said.
The Netherlands has strict regulations to contain a growing outbreak
of coronavirus on mink farms and a week ago said cubs could be taken
to other empty locations “with the eye on animal welfare” if they were
not infected.
The cubs from Westerbeek however tested positive for COVID-19 and
the animals will be culled “as soon as possible,” the ministry said in
a statement.
More than one million mink have now been culled in the Netherlands,
the Dutch public broadcaster NOS estimated on Tuesday.
The Netherlands first reported in April that two mink farms had been
infected with the virus.
At least two workers were also infected in what the World Health
Organization said could be the first known animal-to-human
transmissions.
The farming of mink for fur is a controversial subject in the
Netherlands, where all mink farms will have to be phased out by 2024.