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[voliol]

First the pig plague and then mink corona? 2020 is a bad year to be a Danish farm animal... I guess all years are as they tend to end up at the other end of a butchery nonetheless, but even more so now that they're getting culled.

[martinuzz]

In the past few months, a lot of mink farms have had their populations euthanised over here in the Netherlands because of corona outbreak.  Corona can not only travel from human to mink, but also from mink to human.
There was already a plan to forbid all mink farming in 2024, but from what I understand, mink farms will be forbidden from 2021 now.

My biggest fear is that if corona can travel both ways between cats and humans too, public opinion will make the government start a cat holocaust.  In that case I will not comply and use ultra-violence if needed to defend my furry companions.

[hector13]

I have three cats, and two people in my house with corona.  Cats are fine, people are less fine but could be worse.

[martinuzz]

Well, it has already been shown that cats can get corona, but have very mild to no illness.  So far there's no indication it can jump back from cats to humans though, but I don't know if much testing on that matter has been done.

[misko27]

No testing, but the lack of reports of it versus the relative commonness of the cat is a good sign. Consider that the mink is a hell of a lot less common than cats are but we have reports of crossinfection in the former and not the latter.

[Loud Whispers]

I am 100% certain humanity would tantrum spiral if it came to culling the cats

[delphonso]

No testing, but the lack of reports of it versus the relative commonness of the cat is a good sign. Consider that the mink is a hell of a lot less common than cats are but we have reports of crossinfection in the former and not the latter.

I guess also animals more similar to bats are likely to catch and pass on thr virus. I wonder if rats can be plague spreaders this time around.

[martinuzz]

Minks are more similar to cats than they are to bats

[MorleyDev]

Bats are well-positioned to be carriers for virulent diseases:
* Immune systems that respond quickly, meaning viruses that can incubate or spread quickly are selected-for.
* Communal living with lots of saliva-spreading shrieking means high transmission, causing reservoirs of disease to remain in a population.

Cats aren't a social species, so you don't get much virus spread of communal diseases outside of specific environments.

[Loud Whispers]

Dominic Cummings and Michael Gove have a curry

[delphonso]

Minks are more similar to cats than they are to bats

My mind went "mink=rodent=bat" which I will admit is a big leap.

[martinuzz]

Ah. But a mink is not a rodent. It is part of the mustelidae family, like badgers, weasels, otters and wolverines.
Bats aren't rodents either

[delphonso]

I'm an idiot.

[TD1]

Dominic Cummings and Michael Gove have a curry

Buuuut surely, having offed Dom, he'd have needed to get the bill anyway...

[scriver]

Rodents aren't rodents though.