Finland culls 120,000 fur animals after bird flu outbreak
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The Finnish food authority ordered 50,000 farmed mink and foxes to be culled at three fur farms hit by bird flu.
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Personnel bury pelicans that may have died from avian flu in Lima, Peru, on December 7, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)
Finland, recognized as Europe's largest fox fur producer, is currently taking measures to cull 120,000 farmed foxes and minks due to the prevalence of bird flu outbreaks within the nation's fur farms. Officials disclosed this information on Wednesday.
According to Tuija Gadd, the head of the virology unit at the Finnish Food Authority, "Culling orders have been issued for 13 farms," and she informed AFP that the culling process had been completed on 10 farms.
Reports of H5N1 bird flu outbreaks in seagulls emerged in June, and the initial cases of infected animals on fur farms in Finland were detected in July.
Finnish authorities decided to carry out culling operations on all farms experiencing infections in early August, and since then, the number of culls has been progressively increasing.
Since late 2021, Europe has grappled with its most severe bird flu outbreak ever, while significant outbreaks have also occurred in North and South America.
Read next: 330,000 chickens to be culled in Japan over new bird flu outbreak
In July, the World Health Organization issued a warning about the rising instances of bird flu outbreaks among mammals, as this could facilitate the virus's transmission among humans.
Approximately 400 fur farms are situated in Finland, housing an estimated 1.3 million fur animals, as noted by Gadd. The bird flu outbreaks have sparked renewed calls for the prohibition of the fur industry in Finland, which stands as Europe's primary producer of certified fox fur, yielding nearly a million pelts annually.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries like France, the Netherlands, and Estonia introduced new bans on the fur trade, while Denmark opted for the culling of its entire farmed mink population following COVID-19 outbreaks.
Gadd expressed the belief that the fur farm outbreaks are gradually abating as seagulls are commencing their migration south.
