(ANSA-AFP) - WARSAW, 24 NOV - Cases of novel coronavirus have
been found in mink farms in Poland for the first time,
scientists said on Tuesday, following an outbreak in Denmark
that led to a mass cull. Scientists at Gdansk Medical University
said they had carried out tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus on 91
mink from a farm in northwest Poland and eight of them had
turned out positive. "This is the first case of confirmed
infection of farm animals with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Poland,"
the university said in a statement. "The obtained results
indicate the possibility of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus
from humans to mink," it said, calling for mink farms to raise
their biosecurity standards. Poland is the world's third largest
fur producer after China and Denmark, according to animal rights
groups which are campaigning for an end to breeding animals like
mink for fur. The Danish government earlier this month announced
a nationwide cull of its 15 to 17 million minks, saying they
could carry a mutated variant of the virus that could render any
future vaccine for humans less effective. (ANSA-AFP).
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