Finland: Ruokavirasto Reports 3 More Fur Farms Infected With H5N1

 

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The number of fur farms affected by H5N1 in Finland has remained stuck at 21 for more than a week, but today 3 more farms were added to the list on the Finnish Food Safety Authority Website (Ruokavirasto).

This is the first update on fur farms since August 1st, when the Finnish Food Agency Ordered All Mink On H5N1 Affected Farms To Be Culled.  Its not clear how many of 600+ fur farms in Finland have been tested, but we've seen media reports of `backlogs' in testing at local laboratories.

Two days ago, Finland's Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)  released a statement warning that . . . the circulation of the bird flu virus in farmed fur animals must be stopped in order to prevent the virus from adapting to mammals, and called for a robust response.

While more than 200,000 animals (including 70,000 mink) have been exposed, we don't know how many farms have been affected, or how it is being spread.  

Decisions on the fate of exposed foxes or raccoon dogs have not been released, and if a decision were to be made to cull them, the logistics of processing and safely disposing of their infected carcasses would be complex.

Meanwhile, H5N1 marches on.