Poland to test minks for coronavirus

Poland will test minks from a farm in a northern province of the country for the presence of coronavirus after the Medical University of Gdansk found eight infected minks, the Agriculture Ministry announced on Tuesday.

"The decision was made after the Medical University of Gdańsk announced it had detected coronavirus infection in farmed minks," the ministry said, adding that the university results were not officially recognised as the testing had not been supervised by the Veterinary Inspectorate.

Until official results are obtained, the Veterinary Inspectorate has ordered the minks on the farm to be isolated.

The university's research confirmed the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in eight out of 91 tested minks.

In early November, the coronavirus was detected on mink farms in Denmark. As a result, animals on 284 Danish farms were culled. The new type of coronavirus is seen as dangerous as it can be passed to humans. Similar pockets have also been found on mink farms in the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Greece, Italy and the US.

In Poland, there are about 900 farms breeding animals for fur.