Greece finds COVID-19 in two mink farms, days after Denmark ordered national cull over virus fears

Authorities in Greece have announced an outbreak of COVID-19 among mink at two farms, days after Denmark announced a national cull of the animal to halt the spread of the virus.

In response to the discovery in Greece, officials will cull 2,500 mink in at least one of the farms in the northern Kozani region. A statement from the agriculture ministry said a breeder at the farm tested positive for coronavirus and workers are undergoing tests to check if they are infected too.

This comes days after Denmark announced that up to 17 million mink would be culled in the country over fears that the strain of the virus carried by the species could impact the effectiveness of a vaccine. Fur farmers have been given until 16th November to complete the cull, although some have refused to participate, believing it “makes no difference”. 

Authorities do not believe that the COVID-19 strain found among Greek mink has mutated, although it is a different version to the disease found among mink in Denmark. 

There are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of mink in Greece, with the fur trade being a key industry in the northern part of the country, where the farms are located. Across Europe, there are around 4,350 mink farms, with the latest incident sparking concern about the risk of a continent-wide outbreak. 

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