COVID 19 in Mink

Since 2020 there have been multiple outbreaks of COVID 19 in mink. These outbreaks have significant implications for public health and SARS CoV-2 transmission among mink can create viral mutations that, once transmitted back to humans, may have impacts on virulence, transmissibility, and vaccine resistance. This collaborative project among the BC Centre for Disease Control and the BC Ministry of Agriculture sought to develop and optimize the surveillance of SARS CoV-2 in mink, including the development of novel environmental surveillance tools, to use genomics data to understand the spread of SARS CoV-2 among mink and assess human health risks, and investigate the potential for spillover of SARS CoV-2 from humans and/or mink to wildlife.