The mink, which were tested after showing signs of having trouble breathing, were believed to have been infected by employees who had the virus, the ministry said in a statement. The possibility that they could further spread the virus to humans or other animals on the farms was "minimal", the ministry said, citing advice from national health authorities. The towns where the farms are located, Germert-Bakel and Laarbeek, are both in the southern Noord Brabant province of the Netherlands which has seen the country's worst coronavirus outbreak. After pressure from animal rights activists, the Dutch government banned new mink farms in 2013 and said existing ones would have to close by 2024. The World Health Organization has said bats in China, where the new coronavirus emerged last year, were a likely reservoir of COVID-19 and that an intermediate animal host that is yet to be identified had then infected humans.

Source: bd News24 April 26, 2020 11:48 UTC