Proposal would ban mink farming to stem coronavirus mutation

A bipartisan proposal in the U.S. House would ban the farming of mink fur in the United States in an effort to stem possible mutations of the coronavirus, something researchers have said can be accelerated when the virus spreads among animals.

Researchers have said that spread of COVID-19 among animals could speed up the number of mutations in the virus before it potentially jumps back to people. Last year, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control issued new guidance to curb the spread of the coronavirus between minks and humans. The agency warned that when COVID-19 starts spreading on a mink farm, the large numbers of animal infections means "the virus can accumulate mutations more quickly in minks and spread back into the human population." Denmark reported last year that 12 people had been sickened by a variant of the coronavirus that had distinct genetic changes also seen in mink.