For the second day in a row, a corona virus infection has been detected at a mink farm in Venhorst. The Ministry of Health already reported the suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 at this company on Thursday.
Earlier that day it was announced that corona had struck another breeding farm in Venhorst and two in Wanroij. An estimated 85,000 animals have been or will be gassed here. In the latest case, it concerns a farm with about 3000 mother animals, which have an average of five puppies. The infection came to light after the mink farmer reported symptoms. The company will be cleared as soon as possible. A total of 48 mink farms in the Netherlands have now been declared infected.
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Investigation of contamination
It is not known what caused the contamination at the farm in the Boekel church village. By the way, this appears to be the case at most companies, researchers find it difficult to get a finger on it. This lack of clarity and the increasing number of infections are fueling rumors that the virus is being deliberately transmitted to mink. There are no concrete indications for this. Nevertheless, a department of the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority has been asked to investigate this, it was announced on Thursday.
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Agricultural economist Peter van Horne of Wageningen University and Research thinks this is a good idea. He told Omroep Brabant on Friday that the chance that mink breeders will consciously contaminate their animals in order to earn money has increased sharply. The Dutch Federation of Nobel Animal Keepers (NFE) calls the researcher’s claims nonsense. NFE director Wim Verhagen is happy with the research. He wonders aloud what the role of animal activists is in the whole: “They are capable of a lot.”
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