Read on Twitter
Great thread by @K_G_Andersen summarising why the epizootic of SARS COV 2 is worrying. One more aspect: we picked up circulation on several farms from surveillance, rather than disease notifications. Virus can circulate under the radar https://twitter.com/k_g_andersen/status/1325149383931822081
A second animal species commonly used for fur farming is raccoon dogs. Also susceptible as shown from experimental infection studies. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.19.256800v1
There is no european or global overview of locations and density of fur animal farming, nor is there some form of mandatory notification. So SARS COV 2 is detected when someone decides to test
In many of the countries with fur animal farming, the occasional escape of fi mink has lead to the establishment of feral populations. They are rather solitary so establishment is not a huge concern, but enough headaches without that potential
Fur animal trade is international and includes transport of live animals. Sofar, despite massive efforts, we have not been able to pinpoint how transmission between farms happens. Deemed unlikely: wind/dust, shared farm ownership, food supply, vet service, registered workers
Still under investigation: seasonal workers, wildlife and maybe some subclusters explained by specific events. This is guided by timed phylogeny analyses.
Question for kristian and others: countries are starting to consider vaccination of mink. Selection of drift variants will be sen if that is a concern. I think that will be likely
Finally, a commentary listing the arguments for the recommendstion to cull the mink https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30912-9/fulltext
