COPENHAGEN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus continues to spread rapidly among mink herds in Denmark, with 101 farms now found to have infected animals, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) said on Twitter on Friday.
A further 32 farms have been placed under observation by the DVFA, according to the Danish newspaper Berlingske.
On June 17, the DVFA filed the first notification that coronavirus infection had been found on a mink farm in the North Jutland region.
Danish mink breeders have been called upon by the authority to assist with mass euthanasia as "it could otherwise take several weeks -- maybe several months -- to kill them all," says the DVFA.
Approximately 2.5 million mink will now have to be slaughtered across the country in keeping with the DVFA guidelines.
According to the DVFA, non-infected mink farms are fully compensated, while coronavirus-infected farms get 82 percent in compensation when animals are killed due to COVID-19.
"Both the health authorities and the DVFA are concerned about the large and rapidly growing reservoir of infection on the mink farms...Therefore we are working hard to get the mink in question killed as soon as possible...We hope for the mink owners' cooperation in a difficult time," said Charlotte Vilstrup, office manager at the DVFA, in a press release.
However, the decision to kill the mink has led to protests among many breeders, politicians and ordinary citizens, who criticize the guidelines and call the killings unnecessary.
COVID-19 infections of mink have already been documented in many countries, including the United States, the Netherlands and Spain. Enditem
