The Danish Ministry of Agriculture reported that mink farming will be resumed after all specimens were exterminated in its territory in order to fight covid-19, since it was found that it transmitted the disease to humans. .
"The temporary ban on mink farming will expire at the end of this year," the ministry said in a statement, arguing that it is based on the recommendations of health authorities.
Breeders will have to adhere to a strict infection prevention and control model developed by health and veterinary authorities, he added.
Starting in November 2020, the Danish government urgently carried out a colossal culling campaign of more than 15 million mink, the only animal so far identified with certainty as capable of contracting covid-19 and passing it on to humans.
The measure was quickly taken to combat the risk of mutation of the coronavirus in this animal, prized for its fur, and farms were banned in 2021 and 2022.
The elimination campaign turned into a political nightmare for the Social Democratic government as it was later found that the executive had no legal basis to impose it on the ranchers.
In early July, a commission of inquiry to determine responsibilities in this case concluded that Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had made "highly misleading" statements, but without having "neither the knowledge nor the perspective" to judge them.
