In late April, authorities ended two mink breeding in southern Holland after discovering that animals were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
The scientists compared the genetic code of the virus found in the mink with that of a patient and created the “family tree” to track the mutation, explained Dutch Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten in a letter sent to Parliament.
The results led to the conclusion that “it is possible that one of the employees was contaminated by the mink”, according to Schouten.
The minister minimized the fear that there would be other cases of contagion from animal to man and explained that the air samples and dust particles analyzed outside the places where the minks are kept did not contain traces of the virus.
The government, however, adopted new measures and prohibited, for example, visits to farms where there were cases of contamination.
The government will also require diagnostic tests to be carried out on all mink farms in the country, where COVID-19 killed 5,715 people and contaminated at least 44,249.
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