• A mink in Utah has become the first known wild animal to become infected with COVID-19, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Monday.
• “To our knowledge, this is the 1st free-ranging, native wild animal confirmed with SARS-CoV-2,” the USDA said.
• COVID-19 has been found in pets and animals held in zoos, as well as thousands of mink farms around the world.
• Some mink have developed mutated strains of the virus, which they have in some cases infected humans with, but these strains do not seem more harmful than the ones humans are already dealing with.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

A mink in Utah has become the first wild animal to catch COVID-19, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Monday.

In the US, the virus has killed more than 15,000 farmed mink since August, with the biggest outbreaks in Utah. Some European countries, including Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, and Ireland, have culled their mink populations in a bid to curb outbreaks on farms.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service found the case while testing wildlife around infected mink farms in Utah, Michigan, and Wisconsin between August and October to see …continued .
[Source: Business Insider]