With the current attitudes towards firs, this isn't as big a deal as it would have been in the 50s, but from an ecological perspective it's huge since mink are weasels. If this gets out into the wild, many important small rodent predators will be lost.
[SIZE=7]Coronavirus Strikes Mink in Utah[/SIZE]
Five animals on two farms test positive, but many more are believed to be affected.
Mink on two farms in Utah have become the first in the United States to test positive for the coronavirus, state and federal officials announced on Monday.
Five animals on the farms tested positive for the virus, but many more are believed to be infected because of a recent upswing in the number of mink deaths on the farms, Bradie Jill Jones, a spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Health and Agriculture, said. Typically, two or three mink die per day on a farm, she said.
“Producers began to worry early last week when those fatality rates shot through the sky,” Ms. Jones said.
The owners of the two farms, which officials declined to identify, contacted a veterinarian who alerted agriculture officials.
Samples from the mink were tested at the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, officials said. Later, those results were confirmed by tests performed at the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories.
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