Mink Farms Will Be Banned in the US to Prevent Possible Coronavirus Mutation

Mink farms had once become the center of the world's attention when several minks in Europe tested positive for coronavirus. Now, a new bipartisan proposal in the US House aims to ban mink farms in the country to stem possible mutations of the coronavirus. Experts said that these mutations could accelerate the transmission of the virus.

Representatives Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C. introduced the bill this week that would ban the importation, exportation, transport, and sale or purchase of mink fur in the US.

Researchers said that the spread of COVID-19 in animals could speed up mutations, and these mutations could accelerate the transmission of the virus to humans.

Lesnye Klyuchi fur farm in Russia's Stavropol Territory

(Photo: Getty Images)
A mink with kits in a cage in Lesnye Klyuchi fur farm in the village of Pelagiada. Ruslan Shamukov/TASS (Photo by Ruslan Shamukov\TASS via Getty Images)

Coronavirus in Mink Farms

In 2020, the European CDC issued new guidance to reduce the transmission of coronavirus between minks and humans after a series of cases have been detected in the region.

The CDC warned that when COVID-19 starts spreading on mink farms, the large numbers of animal infections could lead the virus to accumulate mutations more quickly in minks and spread it back to the human population, according to The Mercury News.

Last year, Denmark reported 12 human cases of COVID-19 that have been sickened by a variant of the SARS-CoV-2 that had distinct genetic changes seen in minks. But coronavirus in mink farms was not only recorded in Europe.

Several mink-related coronavirus cases were reported across the US. In December last year, authorities have captured a mink outside an Oregon farm. The mink tested positive for low levels of the coronavirus in which state officials said that this animal might have escaped from a small mink farm that had been in quarantine due to a coronavirus outbreak among minks and humans.

The non-profit commission representing the US mink farmers, Fur Commission USA, said that approximately 275 mink farms in 23 states across the country produce around 3 million pelts every year. They emphasized that the industry amounts to an annual value of more than $300 million.

ALSO READ: Infected Minks Escaped From Danish Farm Could Spread Coronavirus in the Wild

COVID-19 Transmission From Minks to Humans

The US CDC said that a mink on a Michigan mink farm and a small number of people were infected with a coronavirus with mink-related mutations, which suggests that a mink-to-human transmission of the virus might have happened.

However, Associated Press quoted the CDC officials saying that "there is no evidence that mink are playing a significant role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to people."

Sine the COVID-19 pandemic began over a year ago; it continues to create huge health and economic toll around the globe. Some scientists believe that the pandemic could lead to recurrent pandemics in the future, even if the SARS-CoV-2 would be eliminated from the human population.

So, should humans worry about the recurring pandemic? According to an article on Harvard University's website, the answer depends on the idea of a natural reservoir. Currently, humans act as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2, but they are not the only ones who can become a reservoir. Genetic sequencing studies have proven that mink-to-human transmission is possible and vice versa.