Health
Has Mink Infected Taxider Mist in Michigan with COVID-19?
Derek Kravitz and Bianca Fortis, Brown Institute for Media Innovation.Miriam Marini, Detroit Free Press
A COVID-19-infected Michigan taxi driver is at the heart of a strange medical mystery. Did he infect mink (an animal that is susceptible to the virus and is kept for fur) or humans?
Records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Joint Centers for State and County Health Surveys show potential links to nearby mink farms, but so far medical professionals have answered that question. I couldn’t.
In early February, a taxidermist living in Eaton County, Michigan was infected with COVID-19. Samples from his positive test results were sent to state laboratories for gene sequencing — and to mutations in the virus found in infected mink whose fur is used in coats and clothing. I’m back in connection.
Still, according to the CDC, taxider mists are unaware of their exposure to mink farms in Michigan, where two employees were infected with mink-related strains a few months ago, suggesting that they were infected in the community.
“Because few gene sequences are available from the community around the farm, it is impossible to know for sure whether the mutation came from the farm mink or was already circulating in the community,” the CDC said in a statement. I am. Documenting the COVID-19 project at Columbia University’s Brown Media Innovation Institute And free press.
Michigan, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin, and other states with mink farms have addressed the COVID-19 outbreak. An unknown number of agricultural workers in Oregon and Utah who had direct contact with mink were infected. — However, the CDC has repeatedly warned that mink transmission to humans is extremely rare. In all cases, it is ultimately unknown whether mink is infected people or vice versa. Mink is particularly susceptible to COVID-19, and all animal populations have been killed throughout Europe to stop the spread of the virus.
Also, due to the limited data available, epidemiologists, virologists, and the CDC say that the Eaton County viral mutation is endemic to mink and was the first recorded mink-to-human community transmission in the United States. It is difficult to determine if this is the case.
“Individuals linked by transmission are likely to have similar or identical sequences,” said Dr. Adam Rolling, a virologist at the University of Michigan. “But it is possible for unlinked individuals to have the same sequence.”
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The details of the case are sparse. The taxi driver and his wife live in Eaton County. They may own a small farm. A detailed questionnaire reveals that taxider mists dealt with deer and backyard chickens, but were not exposed to other animals, according to an internal health department email obtained through state disclosure laws. I made it.
Emails indicate that the CDC had “significant interest” in the case, as infected mink could be involved.
During October The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed the first case of mink COVID-19 on a farm in the state., Was not identified. Farm owners contacted state officials after several minks became ill and died of the virus.
At the end of November, the CDC and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services sequenced gene samples from both infected mink and employees of mink farms. They found that two farm employees who tested positive for COVID-19 also found two viral mutations in farm mink.
In early February, genetic testing confirmed a related case of COVID-19 involving Eaton’s taxider mist. The Barry-Eaton District Health Department, which includes the Eaton County area, conducted an enhanced case study using questions from the CDC. However, they “could not find a link on how this individual was exposed to that mink COVID,” said Sarah Surna, a community health promotion specialist and spokesman for the Barry-Eaton Health Department.
Viral sequencing of Eaton taxider mist, collected almost two months after the original mink became ill, also showed the same two mutations.
COVID-19 has been found in both domestic dogs and cats, as well as wildlife such as lions, tigers and snow leopards. Canada has reported outbreaks of farmed mink, killing millions of minks across Europe to curb the spread of the virus. To fight the virus, the Netherlands killed the entire population of 4 million minks and permanently shut down the mink industry.
Cases of mink-related infections have also been recorded between farm workers in Oregon and Utah. In Denmark, the outbreak of mink caused more than 200 human cases, 12 of which had unique mutations that Danish authorities were concerned about could reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine.
However, the US mink industry is a fraction of the European mink industry, with approximately 275 farms in 23 states.
The CDC clearly demonstrates that mink-to-human viral transmission leads to community expansion, with extensive genomic surveillance in mink, mink farm workers, and larger communities, and how cases treat each other. It states that epidemiological investigations are needed to determine if it is related to. ..
Mohar Chatterjee of the Brown Institute for Media Innovation contributed to this report.
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