AVIAN FLU DISCOVERED AT MINK FUR FARM IN SPAIN

In October last year, at a fur farm in Galicia, northwest Spain, workers noticed an unusually high number of animals dying. Although it was initially thought to be an outbreak of Covid-19 (as seen on numerous other such farms), laboratory results showed that the martens were infected with H5N1, a deadly bird flu virus.

Source: We Animals Media

All 50,000 minks on the farm were killed, and the workers were quarantined. People who were in contact with the animals were tested, but no one was infected with the virus. The incident was the subject of an article published in Eurosurveillance. Research has shown that the virus found in minks carries a mutation in the "PB2" gene, which was similar to the one found when bird flu spread to pigs in the late 2000s. Experts continually warn that intensive farming like this one can act as incubators for the virus and increase the likelihood of it mutating to spread among humans. All large farms represent a breeding ground for the virus, but fur farms stand out in particular as they pose a serious risk.

Source: We Animals Media

All intensive farms present breeding grounds for viruses, but mink fur farms in particular have been highlighted as presenting a serious risk. To use Covid-19 as another recent example, the disease has been identified at more than 450 mink fur farms in Europe and North America since April 2020, leading to over 20 million animals being culled. As well as spreading easily among the mink, they, too, transmitted it to workers. Researchers have voiced concern, therefore, that mink farms could become future sources of infections, as well as breeding grounds for genetic variants. While possible cases of H5N1 have been found at mink farms in China, there was previously no evidence that the disease spread among the animals themselves. It is thought, however, that this did happen at the Spanish farm.

Source: Plant Based News