Ireland plans to cull mink over virus fears, though no cases found

Ireland is planning a nationwide cull of mink over fears they may carry a mutated version of the coronavirus detected in the animals in Denmark, a government spokesman says.

An agriculture ministry spokesman says that testing of Ireland’s mink herd has yielded no positive Covid-19 tests to date.

But the Republic’s department of health “indicated that the continued farming of mink represents an ongoing risk of additional mink-adapted [coronavirus] variants emerging,” he says in a statement.

“Therefore, it has recommended that farmed mink in Ireland should be culled to minimize or eliminate this risk.”

National media reports that there are three mink farms housing around 100,000 animals across Ireland.

The agriculture department says it “continues to engage with the mink farmers to consider the next steps.”

Earlier this month Denmark — the world’s largest producer of mink fur — announced a nationwide cull of 15 million to 17 million animals after a mutated version of the coronavirus was detected in farms and spread to humans.

On Thursday the nation’s health ministry said the mutation, which raised concerns over the effectiveness of any future vaccine, has likely been eradicated.

— AFP