18 of 20 Gorillas Test Positive for COVID-19

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The Independent reported that 18 Gorillas at the Zoo Atlanta tested positive for COVID-19. Handlers at Zoo Atlanta noticed that a number of western lowland gorillas were experiencing mild coughs, runny noses and slight loss of appetite, so they collected fecal samples and tested the gorillas for disease.

The disease was most likely transmitted to the gorillas from an asymptomatic worker who subsequently tested positive. The employee was vaccinated, according to a report. Zoo Atlanta’s policy requires all workers to wear gloves, masks and face shields while on the job.

The tests were conducted at a University of Georgia lab. Covid tests were also sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Amex, Iowa. Zoo Atlanta is reportedly awaiting those results before definitively saying that the gorillas have Covid.

All 20 gorillas living at the facility are now being tested for Covid. There are four gorilla troops at Zoo Atlanta. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), members in each troop have shown signs of infection. Zoo Atlanta spokesperson, Rachel Davis, told the AJC that employees are not mandated to take Covid vaccines.

Zoo Atlanta’s Bornean and Sumatran orangutans, African lions, clouded leopard, and Sumatran tigers have all received the Zoetis vaccine, which was developed for veterinary use.

In the United States, respiratory disease and increases in mink deaths have been seen on most affected mink farms. There is a possibility of mink spreading SARS-CoV-2 to people on mink farms. Mink-to-human spread of SARS-CoV-2 has been reported in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Poland, and new data suggest it might have occurred in the United States. 17 Million of mink were killed in  Denmark in November 2020. Their bloated carcasses rose from the ground where they were buried. Locals referred to them as Zombie Mink.

Zoos in San Diego and Detroit have also vaccinated their at-risk animals. The US Centers for Disease Control has stated that animals are not a major contributing factor to spreading Covid to humans. Research is ongoing so there are many unanswered questions.

Zombie Mink

Posted on by Thor

17 million mink were killed in Denmark in November after COVID-19 spread from mink farmers to the mink they were raising and then a mutated strain of the virus passed back to humans.

The Denmark Food and Agriculture Minister Morgens Jensen resigned when it was decided that the order to kill the animals was illegal. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited a mink farm after the mass killing.

Mass graves were dug at a military area in western Denmark for the 17 million mink and they were buried under six feet of dirt. Hundreds of bloated mink have started rising from the grave. It is believed that the CO2 gas used to kill the animals caused the decomposing bodies to rise to the surface. The local media has started referring to them as zombie mink.

Jensen’s replacement, Rasmus Prehn, said Friday November 28, 2020 that he supported the idea of digging up the animals and incinerating them. He said he had asked the environmental protection agency look into whether it could be done. Parliament was to be briefed on the issue on Monday November 30, 2020.

The American Mink Farming industry as been on high alert since the mass killings in Denmark. Thousands of mink have died at fur farms in Utah (8,000) and Wisconsin (2,000) after a series of COVID-19 outbreaks. In Oregon, least 10 minks and an undisclosed number of human farm workers tested positive for the COVID-19, the U.S. Agriculture Department confirmed Friday November 27, 2020. The infected animals were ordered isolated, so far sparing them from the grim fate of the Denmark mink. So far, no mutation has been detected in U.S. minks. The United States produces roughly 3 million mink pelts a year compared to Denmark’s 17 million. There are about 275 mink farms spread among 23 states; to date, 16 mink farms have had COVID-19 outbreaks in Utah, Wisconsin, Michigan and Oregon, according to figures provided to The Post by the USDA. The number of farm workers infected from the outbreaks is being withheld  by the Department of Agriculture, citing privacy concerns. Animal and environmental advocates, believe the privacy concerns are a smokescreen to protect thee American mink industry. The lack of transparency from the mink farming industry now poses a public health risk.

Cluster 5 Killing 17 Million

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Denmark is the world’s biggest producer of Mink for the fur trade. Mink are raised on farms in tightly spaced cages. Mink on a farm caught COVID-19 from a human. Since they are packed so close together the 10,000 mink on this one farm were soon all infected, The virus spread like wild fire over the course of two weeks. It as then discovered that the mink could transmit the disease back to humans. “Cluster 5” is the name given to a mutated variant of the COVID-19 virus.

By Tuesday, November 10, 2020 COVID-19 had been reported on 237 farms in Jutland with further cases suspected on another 33. The Danish government decided they had to destroy all 17 million of the animals in the country. The government ordered a lock down of the effected northern jurisdictions. All cultural institutions, cinemas, theaters, sports and leisure facilities, and dine-in restaurants have been ordered closed, and travel into or out of the municipalities is prohibited.

The concern was that the virus would mutate when it was passes back to humans making it possible that this new strain might not be effected by any vaccine that might be developed.

After the mass murder had been started the prime minister admitted that there was no legal justification for the cull. Police and the armed forces have been deployed and farmers have been told to cull their healthy animals too -but the task will take weeks.

Mink are killed by forcing them into airtight metal boxes. CO2 is then used to gas the animals to death.My sister once had to euthanize a small mouse. It was put in a bucked and gassed. I could hear its tiny gasps and coughs as it threw itself against the side of the container in an attempt to survive. That memory still haunts me. How could it be possible to gas 17 million living beings?

They are then burned along with their fur. Huge trenches are being dug and the animals are being dumped into mass graves.

COVID-19 has infected Minks being raised  on farms in America as well. The census shows that there are 2836 Mink farms in America. 11 mink farms had Covid-19 outbreaks so far in America. On August 6, 2020 a mink farmer in  Utah, reported “deaths in numbers they’d never seen before.” Thousands of Mink have died in Utah and Wisconsin.  A necropsies on some of the the animals found, lungs that were “wet, heavy, red, and angry,” all signs of pneumonia. Researchers in America are now trying to determine whether these workers gave the virus to the mink, or vice versa. Mink suffer similar symptoms to humans. Difficulty breathing and the virus progresses rapidly, with most infected mink dead by the next day.

Now, scientists at University of Oxford, UK have reviewed the data say the mutations themselves aren’t particularly concerning because there is little evidence that they allow the virus to spread more easily among people, make it more deadly or will jeopardize therapeutics and vaccines. The Danish government still wants to kill all 17 million animals since they are so vulnerable to the virus and can spread it to humans. As always America seems to be on a “wait and see” holding pattern. Any Mink infected pose a risk to public health.