A wild mink captured in Utah has tested positive for COVID-19, making it the first wild animal in the United States, officials said Monday.
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) has reported the capture of an “independent, wild mink” tested positive for the corona virus near a mink farm in Utah, and reports of viral infections among its inhabitants. USDA officials are conducting tests near farms with confirmed infections to see if the virus can spread to nearby wildlife.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the 1st free, native wild animal certified with SARS-CoV-2,” the USDA said in a statement announcing the World Health Organization’s invention.
More than 15,000 farmers in the United States have died of the mink virus so far this year, and the species has been targeted by bulls due to similar concerns by European authorities.
Denmark alone has killed more than 17 million eels following concerns that the animal is controlling the virus from humans, thus undergoing mutation before reorganizing the population. The country’s agriculture minister resigned as a result of criticism of the calf, and in some cases mink corpses were improperly buried in mass graves, which were later exposed.
COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the United States despite receiving the first dose of a vaccine this week; More than 16 million infections have been reported in the United States since the outbreak, and more than 300,000 have died.