Cannabis Health Insider

A Mink farm in Spain has reported the animals to have coronavirus infection. The country ordered the killing of 100,000 Minks to prevent the disease from spreading.

Coronavirus emerged in China about 9 months ago. Researchers believe the virus transferred from bats to humans. Over the years, as the Chinese people consumed bats, the virus mutated and was able to transmit over the specie barrier.

Since then, coronavirus has infected over 13 million people worldwide and has caused more than 500,000 deaths. Several governments have pushed countries into lockdown. Further, strict measures are being taken to prevent the spread of the disease. However, the cases seem to be increasing exponentially, with USA reporting 70,000 new cases in one day.

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Major efforts are being made to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus infection. However, up till now, FDA has not approved any drug for treating it. Numerous companies and research groups are in the process of conducting human trials of various drugs that they believe could potentially prove effective against the novel SARS virus.

According to scientists, it would take a year to develop an effective vaccine.

Transmission

Previously, health professionals and researchers believed that the virus could not spread from bats to humans, however, the outbreak has clearly proven that theory wrong. Recently, a Minks farm in north-east Spain reported that their farm bred minks have contracted coronavirus. Officials have decided to order culling of 100,000 Minks to prevent any spread of the infection.

Minks are semi aquatic animals used for their expensive fur. Comapnies are currently using them for the production of prized clothes, along with fake eyelashes and other hair extensions.

The farm owners detected the outbreak in the farm after an employee’s wife became infected with the coronavirus in May. Since then, 6 other farm workers have also tested positive. The farm owner isolated the minks and closely monitored them to make sure there was no compromise in the protective measures.

Test Results

Test results showed that 87% of the animals were coronavirus positive. Health authorities have ordered culling of all 92,700 prized animals instantly. The government will compensate the farm owners for their losses.

The farm is in the Aragon province, 200 kms east of Madrid. Aragon has been one of the major “hotspots” for Coronavirus in the country. The province has reported over 250,000 cases along with 28,000 deaths.

Also read: Irresponsible Statement from Health Secretary: US Healthcare Workers Aren’t Infected With COVID-19

The officials took the decision to kill the minks to prevent the risk of human transmission. Aragon’s minister of Agriculture, Joaquin Olona, made the statement in an interview. He also pressed that this was only a preventative step and that there was no solid proof the virus could spread from minks to humans. However, an infected farm worker might have unknowingly transferred the coronavirus to the animals.

There have been more than a million cases of coronavirus in minks in Europe. The overall conditions in a mink farm are optimal for the virus to spread rapidly. Particularly due to the close proximity of the animals. This has led to governments killing large populations of minks to prevent the spread of the virus.