Culling of Thousands of Coronavirus-Infected Minks Begins in Kozani, Greece

The procedure to cull a total of 2,500 thousand minks began in Greece’s northern city of Kozani on Saturday. All 2,500 minks had contracted the COVID-19 novel coronavirus.
The infected mink population is located in the village of Kaloneri of Kozani’s Voio Municipality.
The disturbing procedure began on Saturday morning, and the first unfortunate animals were buried in a nearby, specially-designed mass grave, following all relative coronavirus protective health procedures.
The issue of infected minks began in Denmark.
There, the local government of the nation decided to cull a stunning 17 million minks, fearing widespread contagion of the coronavirus but soon after backtracked from its original decision.
There is still no scientific consensus on whether a mutated variant of the coronavirus found in minks could be spread to human populations, however, due to the grim situation our planet has found itself in, the risk makes governments and people worry about a potentially disastrous new wave of infections.
Officials have estimated that Greece’s mink population may number in the hundreds of thousands.
As Greece’s state-run AMNA news agency reported on Friday, in the northern city of Kastoria, 135 rapid tests showed that 9 farmers and workers in furred animal farms were found positive for the coronavirus, sparking wider fears about the matter.
According to a decision by the Greek Agricultural Development & Food Ministry, “only animals ill with COVID-19 will be euthanized, and the measure shall not be applied across the board.”
Minister Makis Voridis has ordered all related ministry services to be on high alert and follow developments closely, keeping in mind the country’s public health.
(With information from AMNA)