64 mink farms have now been infected and culled with the corona virus. Of these, 43 are located in Noord Brabant, nineteen in the province of Limburg and two in Gelderland. Minister of Agriculture Carola Schouten (CU) wrote this to the Lower House on Tuesday. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) and Municipal Health Services (GGD) conduct research into possible contamination routes at each company. In addition to this tracing study, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is conducting more extensive research on all infected farms in order to find out introduction routes. So far, this tracing investigation has not yielded any concrete indication of how the virus entered the farms. The way in which the virus has spread remains unknown for the time being.
It Outbreak Management Team Zoönosen (OMT-Z) concluded at its latest meeting that humans are probably the most important source of distribution between companies. But the OMT-Z also had insufficient leads to determine the entry routes. A possible explanation for the continuous finds of contaminated companies is that they have been contaminated for longer than initially assumed. This could mean that (some of) the infections that were recently found date from June or July.
Some mink farmers are also in psychological distress, Schouten writes. The corona epidemic in mink, the many culls and the decision to stop mink farming early are very drastic for mink farmers and their families. They experience a lot of pressure and uncertainty during this period. Mink farmers and their families have been living in isolation for some time due to strict prevention measures, the fear that their company will be contaminated and the general corona rules. The Dutch Federation of Nobel Animal Keepers (NFE), the Netherlands Agricultural and Horticultural Organization (LTO) and veterinarians have indicated that in some cases this leads to psychosocial problems for mink farmers. Schouten works with those interest groups to see how aid can best be designed.
–
