SCARY, UTAH MINK FARMS HAVE LOST 10,000 OF THEM TO COVID-19
So Covid-19 is killing more things than we knew. Recent news out of Utah is a little disturbing in an entirely new way. If you didn’t already know (I didn’t) there are a lot of mink farms in Utah. But recently, they’ve been having a pretty big problem. The minks are dying off, and in pretty big numbers. In just the past few weeks, roughly 10,000 of the furry critters have died. And now, we may know why. So yes, it’s Covid-19 that’s killing them. It seems that as already horrifying the pandemic is, there is a lot more to understand.
Read More: Men With Beards Have a LOT More Germs Than Dogs
HUMAN HANDLERS WITH COVID-19 PASSED IT ON TO THESE POOR, VULNERABLE CRITTERS
So how did these minks come down with Covid-19? Well, from humans, of course. Humans that had the infection of the often-deadly virus already. That’s the assumption so far, at least. Human handlers working at the mink farms who had Covid somehow gave it to these cfeatures, simply by handling them. And 10,000 minks have dies from this unexpected outbreak just in the last 2 weeks. But we already knew that these animals were vulnerable. Scientists already knew that minks ferrets and other kinds of weasels can catch the virus from people. And yes, I’m not forgetting about cats and dogs.
Related: NC State Fair Hot Tubs Were the Source of a Legionnaire’s Disease Outbreak
MINKS SUFFER FROM THE WORST OF THE COVID-19 SYMPTOMS, JUST LIKE OLD, FAT, WHITE MEN
But cats and dogs, while they can catch it from contact from humans, aren’t as vulnerable as weasels like minks. They come down with the worst symptoms, just like humans who are in trouble from infection. They have issues with breathing, runny noses and discharge from their eyes. And yes, older minks, just like humans, are at greater risk of dying. So far, the Covid-19 mink outbreak has hit 9 different farms in Utah. But what isn’t clear, is how these farms didn’t have protocols in place to protect them from their caretakers. Because this could get worse, and fast.
Besides, who can afford a mink coat these days, anyway? Well, besides the 1%, of course.
UPDATE: Now, there’s news that farms in Denmark are killing 1 million minks to stop the outbreak there. This stuff is all too real.
