By Canadian Press

Eight people test positive for COVID-19 at B.C. mink farm, outbreak declared

Dec 7, 2020 | 1:40 PM

BURNABY, B.C. — A health authority has declared a COVID-19 outbreak at a mink farm after eight people at the operation in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley tested positive for the disease.

Fraser Health says in a statement it is screening people connected to the unnamed farm.

It says people who test positive for COVID-19 or those who are close contacts of employees or farm operators are self-isolating.

Fraser Health says officials from the health authority and WorkSafeBC are at the site to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Fraser Health says the B.C. Health Act has placed the mink farm under orders to restrict the transport of animals, goods and products.

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In October, Canada’s mink breeders announced they were increasing safety measures on their farms to avoid the devastating COVID-19 outbreaks that have plagued their European and American counterparts.

Infections on mink farms in Europe and the United States have shown the animals are susceptible to COVID-19. Canada’s breeders are already suffering from a drop in fur prices and losses from the Chinese market.

Breeders in Denmark euthanized 15 million minks over concerns about a mutated version of the virus that has spread among the animals. Mink farmers in Spain have culled almost 100,000. In the U.S., nearly 10,000 minks across Utah died of COVID-19 as the virus spread rapidly across farms in the state.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2020.

The Canadian Press