The Irish Ministry of Health, following Denmark, recommended that farmers destroy all minks to eliminate coronavirus mutations

The Irish Ministry of Health has advised local farmers to destroy minks to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 virus mutations. This is stated on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Navigation of the country.

So far, however, tests on minks in Ireland have not shown positive results. Measures for the destruction of mink are proposed only to minimize and eliminate risks.

The Ministry of Agriculture, in turn, noted that it is working with health authorities and mink farm operators to eliminate any potential risks associated with a possible mutation of the virus. According to him, mink farmers continue to work in full compliance with all legal requirements and animal protection laws.

According to radio station RTE, there are no plans to destroy minks in the near future. However, she notes that the Ministry of Health sent out a document to farmers, which says this. Mink farmers accused the authorities of destroying healthy animals "without providing any scientific or legal basis."

In total, there are three mink farms in Ireland - in the counties of Laois, Kerry and Donegal. There is already a commitment in the government program to phase out mink farming in Ireland.

At the same time yesterday, scientists from Denmark, where the mutated virus was first recorded, suggested that it could disappear. Only 12 people have been diagnosed with it, according to the Danish Institute for Dangerous Infection Control, eight of whom are owners of farms where mink were infected, employees or family members of those who work on the farm.

The Danish government announced in early November the order to kill all minks - from 12 to 17 million individuals on 1,100 zoo farms in the kingdom. Later it turned out that the Cabinet of Ministers did not have the authority to make such decisions without discussing the bill in parliament. However, in the end, the Danish authorities reached an agreement with the opposition parties. Yesterday, the country's authorities announced that all minks with coronavirus living on fur farms were killed.