4 Michiganders Likely Contracted COVID From Animals, First Known In US
LANSING, MI — Four Michiganders are the first known Americans believed likely to have contracted the coronavirus from animals after a coronavirus strain was linked to infected minks.
A unique variant of COVID-19 linked to minks likely infected two mink farm workers, an Eaton County taxidermist and his wife, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Michigan health officials and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the four cases represent the first known instances in the United States of spillover from animals to humans.
Government documents obtained first by National Geographic showed the CDC knew in late 2020 that mink on a fur farm may have infected humans. The agency in March 2021 updated its website, which now says the coronavirus has been reported in mink on farms in multiple countries, including the United States.
"Infected workers likely introduced SARS-CoV-2 to mink on the farms, and the virus then began to spread among the mink," the CDC said. "Once the virus is introduced on a farm, spread can occur between mink, as well as from mink to other animals on the farm (dogs, cats)."
And while federal health officials said they found "no evidence" that mink play a significant role in spreading the virus to people, "there is a possibility of mink spreading this virus to people on mink farms."
Infected mink infected may be asymptomatic or have a range of symptoms from mild to severe respiratory problems — such as coughing, sneezing, eye and nose discharge, difficulty breathing — or diarrhea.
Farms with infected mink may also see more mink deaths, the agency said. Products from infected animals, such as pelts and skins, may be contaminated with the virus, though there are no reported cases of the coronavirus spreading from mink products to people.
The findings were not unexpected.
Mink from farms in the Netherlands and Denmark were infected with coronavirus that spread from animals to humans. Similar cases have been linked to mink farms worldwide.
In Michigan, investigators found that mink and a small number of people were infected with COVID-19 that contained "unique mink-related mutations (changes in the virus’s genetic material).
"This suggests mink-to-human spread might have occurred," the CDC concluded.
Two of the cases involved workers at a mink farm that saw a virus outbreak in October 2020. The other two had no obvious links to the farm, indicating possible widespread community spread. The first human cases were identified in early November 2020.
At the time, Michigan health officials said in a news release that it was not the first case of infected mink in the United States, but that it was the first instance of the virus being confirmed among Michigan's farmed-mink population.
"After several mink exhibited signs of illness and died on the farm, the owner submitted samples for diagnosis," health officials said at the time.
All four people fully recovered, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Dr. Casey Barton Behravesh, a veterinary epidemiologist with the CDC who has extensive experience investigating outbreaks, told The New York Times that genetic mutations in the strain of the virus — along with the fact that farm workers started testing positive for COVID-19 after the mink herd started falling ill and dying — suggested the "most likely hypothesis is that the workers were infected after contact with mink on the farm."
This article originally appeared on the Across Michigan Patch
