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COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – The Danish government said Friday it plans to unearth the minks that were culled to prevent the spread of the coronavirus after hundreds have resurfaced from mass graves.
Denmark ordered all farmed mink culled earlier this month after discovering that 12 people had been infected with a mutated strain of the virus that causes COVID-19, which has passed from human to mink and new to man.
The decision led to the destruction of 17 million animals and the resignation of Food and Agriculture Minister Morgens Jensen last week after it was established that the order was illegal.
The dead minks were turned over in trenches in a military area in western Denmark and covered with 2 meters of soil. But hundreds have begun to resurface, pushed out of the ground by what authorities say is the gas of their decomposition. The newspapers called them the “zombie mink”.
Jensen’s replacement, Rasmus Prehn, said Friday he was in favor of the idea of digging up the animals and incinerating them. He said he asked the environmental protection agency to investigate the possibility of doing so, and parliament will be briefed on the matter on Monday.
The grisly burial sites, guarded 24 hours a day to keep people and animals away, have raised complaints from area residents about possible health risks.
Authorities say there is no risk of the graves spreading the coronavirus, but locals worry about the risk of contaminating drinking water and a swimming lake less than 200 meters away.
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