Minks have already been a problem leading to Denmark culling 17 million of them alone, with the problem being present in several other countries[0].
The virus is tearing through the farms[1]:
> In Denmark, the world’s largest producer of mink pelts, authorities are struggling to control farm outbreaks, despite extensive control measures. In many affected farms, almost all animals have antibodies against the virus.
It's mutating and jumping back to people[1]:
> Fonager says researchers in Denmark have sequenced viral samples from 40 mink farms and identified some 170 coronavirus variants. He adds that in viral samples from people — representing about one-fifth of the country’s total COVID confirmed cases — they’ve found some 300 people with variants that contain mutations thought to have first emerged in mink.
> [...]
> One mink-associated mutation has spread more widely in people. The mutation, Y453F, also encodes an amino acid change in the spike protein and has been found in about 300 sequences from people in Denmark, as well as sequences from mink and people in the Netherlands. An experimental study suggests that virus variants with the Y453F mutation partially escaped detection by a commercial monoclonal antibody.
Like most things SARS-CoV-2 right now, we don't exactly have a rigorous academic study. Just rumblings. But so far there's some evidence pointing this direction.
The virus is tearing through the farms[1]:
> In Denmark, the world’s largest producer of mink pelts, authorities are struggling to control farm outbreaks, despite extensive control measures. In many affected farms, almost all animals have antibodies against the virus.
It's mutating and jumping back to people[1]:
> Fonager says researchers in Denmark have sequenced viral samples from 40 mink farms and identified some 170 coronavirus variants. He adds that in viral samples from people — representing about one-fifth of the country’s total COVID confirmed cases — they’ve found some 300 people with variants that contain mutations thought to have first emerged in mink.
> [...]
> One mink-associated mutation has spread more widely in people. The mutation, Y453F, also encodes an amino acid change in the spike protein and has been found in about 300 sequences from people in Denmark, as well as sequences from mink and people in the Netherlands. An experimental study suggests that virus variants with the Y453F mutation partially escaped detection by a commercial monoclonal antibody.
Like most things SARS-CoV-2 right now, we don't exactly have a rigorous academic study. Just rumblings. But so far there's some evidence pointing this direction.
[0] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-news/here-s-why-denmark-... [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03218-z