Researchers have found 36 previously unknown viruses across fur farms in China, heightening pandemic risk.
Among the minks, rabbits, foxes, and raccoon dogs cruelly farmed and killed for their fur across China lurks something sinister: dozens of viruses, including 36 previously unknown ones, circulating among the captive fur-bearing animal populations.
Researchers from the Pettersson of Uppsala University in Sweden found that these viruses are thriving in the conditions of fur factory farms, having multiple opportunities to infect individuals, adapting through various host species, and possibly jumping to humans.
Of the 125 viruses found, 36 were considered novel and 39 were categorized as “high risk” of jumping to humans. The researchers found several types of bird flu—which is ravaging the globe right now—and seven types of coronaviruses (though none closely related to the strain that causes COVID-19). However, 11 high-risk viruses were zoonotic, meaning they’ve already jumped to humans.
Overcrowded and unsanitary, fur farms are a breeding ground for zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 and avian flu. Millions of foxes and minks have been slaughtered on fur farms throughout the world in recent years as both diseases were detected in fur-bearing animals.
In fact, Finland slaughtered over 125,000 mink and foxes in August 2023 due to fears bird flu would mutate and more effectively jump to humans after it was reported in more than two dozen Finnish fur farms in July and August 2023 alone.
These diseases can spread and mutate rapidly in crowded fur and factory farms, increasing risk and transmission to animals in the wild. Most recently, highly pathogenic bird flu was responsible for killing a polar bear in Alaska and infecting penguin populations in the Antarctic.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw millions of fur-bearing animals killed in efforts to stop the spread, federal US representatives introduced the Mink VIRUS Act, which would create a one-year phaseout for mink farms and implement a grant program to help operators transition out of the industry.
World Animal Protection US wholeheartedly supports the Mink VIRUS Act, not just to end the cruelty fur-bearing animals endure for fashion, but for our own public health. Please take a quick second to email your representative and urge them to support the Mink VIRUS Act today.