Dutch minister: Second worker likely infected by mink
Catherine Newman

A second Dutch worker has probably been infected with coronavirus on a mink farm, an agricultural minister has said, while stressing that the risk of further contagion remains low. 

The case follows a reported infection last week on one of two farms near the southern city of Eindhoven, where the disease was discovered in April among mink that are bred for their fur. 

"A second case has become known where on one of the mink farms, SARS-coV-2 has been passed from a mink to a human," said the deputy prime minister, Carola Schouten. 

"The case is similar to the previous one," said Schouten in a letter to the Dutch parliament. 

The infection reportedly happened before it was known that the mink carry the virus, meaning that workers were not wearing protective clothing at the time. 

Schouten said Dutch health authorities who assessed the risk of infection outside the shed where the mink were being kept, believed it was "negligible."

Keeping and breeding mink for their fur has been a controversial issue in the Netherlands. The country's highest court ordered in 2016 that all mink breeding must cease by 2024. 

The Netherlands has recorded 5,830 human coronavirus deaths and 45,445 infections. 

Source(s): AFP