Coronavirus found on 3 more mink farms; 47 farms affected to date

Another three mink farms in the Netherlands were found to have infections of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus detected, the Dutch government said on Friday. The stocks of 47 mink farms in the country have now been culled after an infection was found.

A 48th farm was also suspected of having an infection among the mink stock, the results of which were expected on Saturday.

Two of the farms where the coronavirus strain was found are in Wanroij, Sint Anthonis. One business had 8,400 dam and their offspring, while the other had 2,600 mothering animals.

The other farm is located in Venhorst, Boekel. Some 5,700 dam were present at that location. All three infections were discovered by the governments early warning monitoring system, where the animals are tested weekly.

All mink farms in the Netherlands will be ordered to close at the end of March in 2021, nearly three years earlier than planned. The government has set aside 182 million euros as compensation to the business owners affected by the scheme.

Nearly 10 thousand people have signed a petition against government subsidies to out-of-work mink farmers. "People who got rich by keeping mink in cramped cages to gas them for their fur are rewarded by the government with 182 million euros. People who take care of others, people who have become seriously ill due to corona and people who went bankrupt and can barely make ends meet have to do with minimal support or nothing at all," the petition initiators wrote.