A rash of COVID deaths of farmed mink in Wisconsin last fall raised alarms that the operations could spread the virus to wild animals or even create dangerous new variants, similar to a variant that led the Danish government to order all mink in the country killed last year to prevent a major outbreak.

Veterinarians in Wisconsin and Minnesota say they don’t see cause for alarm, but also acknowledge that there are still plenty of unknowns.

“It does concern me anytime you have a disease that can go from people to animals and then back to people again,” said veterinarian Dr. Gail R. Hansen, a consulting vet with the Humane Society and the former Kansas state epidemiologist. Read more…

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