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An environmental watchdog group predicted the worst—a COVID-19 outbreak at a mink farm—but it doesn't believe Oregon officials are acting proactively to maintain public safety.
On Nov. 27, Oregon health officials announced a COVID-19 outbreak in the mink at a farm, shortly after the Center for Biological Diversity issued a warning on just such a danger. (Minks are the only animal documented transmitting the virus to humans since the pandemic began.)
On Dec. 2, the center sent another letter to Gov. Kate Brown, the Oregon Health Authority, and the Oregon Department of Agriculture in response to the outbreak—and the lack of details in the announcement.
The ODA reported that samples of 10 mink all came back positive for the virus, but did not not say which farm hosted the outbreak. (Workers at the affected farm and their families were notified to self-isolate and were also tested.) The ODA cited health privacy laws as the reason it could not disclose which mink farm had the outbreak. Health officials also did not say if any people tested positive.
But the center says this information is crucial to slowing a potential spread among humans and is not private information for other workplace outbreaks.
The center's most recent letter demands that local officials release the mink farm's "name and location, total number of mink infected and their status, total number of workers infected and their status, and information regarding ongoing monitoring of this situation tailored to the specific threat—including potential virus mutation related to mink operations, not just agriculture operations generally."
In the letter, the center states its concern that the mink farming industry is being protected over the public.
The ODA and OHA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The letter also also says officials are not acting proactively.
"Despite these lags in testing, quarantine, and timing for the requested self-isolation, and the chilling fact that 100% of the animals tested at that facility were found to be positive for the virus, the agencies, citing privacy concerns, have declined to even vaguely identify where the outbreak is taking place," the letter reads.