WHO: Five more countries reported mink-related strains of COVID-19

Five other countries have recorded mink-related new strains of the novel coronavirus besides Denmark, Report says, citing TASS.

“To date, six countries, namely Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy, and the United States of America, have reported SARS-CoV-2 in farmed minks to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE),” the WHO newsletter published in Geneva said.

Available evidence suggests that the virus is predominantly transmitted between people through respiratory droplets and close contact, but there are also examples of transmission between humans and animals. Several animals that have been in contact with infected humans, such as minks, dogs, domestic cats, lions, and tigers, have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Mink-related strains of the coronavirus had been found in 214 people in Denmark since June, the country’s State Serum Institute had reported.

Denmark, the world’s leading producer of mink skins, will kill its entire mink population after a mutated version of the coronavirus was found in the Nordic country, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday.