All mink on farms in Ireland are to be culled over the next few weeks due to concerns surrounding a mutated strain of Covid-19.
There are about 100,000 mink spread across three farms in Laois, Donegal and Kerry.
It is understood the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan wrote to the Department of Agriculture recommending the move, after a mutation of the virus was linked to animals in Denmark.
Irish mink farmers will be allowed use the remaining mink to make fur, but there will be no further breeding of the animals in Ireland once they are gone as plans were already in place to phase out the practice.
Calls for a humane culling of the animals had been made in recent weeks, with Veterinary Ireland saying it would be prudent to dispose of them under the supervision of Department of Agriculture officials.
It emerged in recent weeks that Denmark was undertaking a massive cull of up to 17 million mink, after the mutation in the virus was found in 12 people in the northern part of Denmark.
More mink is produced in Denmark than anywhere else. The mutated strain of the virus led to the effective lockdown of several towns in an attempt to halt its spread.
Animal welfare
Outbreaks where the virus appears to have spread from animals to humans have been detected in six EU countries.
Mink, similar to ferrets, cats and dogs, are more susceptible to contracting the coronavirus, posing a risk they could mutate the virus and return a variant to humans.
The Department of Agriculture previously said it had maintained contact with Irish mink farms and while a testing regime was to be implemented, no Covid cases had yet been identified.
A circular was previously sent to GPs advising them to “maintain increased awareness” about the possibility of Covid-19 in patients arriving in Ireland from Denmark.
The cull comes amid concern that a mutation of the virus could affect the rollout and efficacy of a Covid-19 vaccine.
In June 2019, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced the phasing out of fur farming, saying the practice is “counter to good animal welfare”.
