Minks at two farms in northern Greece have been found to have the coronavirus, according to an official in the country's agriculture ministry.
The strain found in the minks is the same as the one found in humans the official said, according to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini. The breeder of one of the infected minks also tested positive for the virus.
The 2,500 minks on one farm have since been culled, the newspaper reported the agriculture ministry official as saying, after samples from the animals there tested positive for the virus.
Testing of workers at mink farms in the Kastoria area found 10 positive cases, the newspaper said.
The trade in mink fur is an important source of income for the area.
The city's medieval fur traders supplied ermine to the Byzantine court, but today, the pelts — mostly of farmed mink — are imported from North America and Scandinavia.
More than 60 percent of the 35,000 people in Kastoria work in this industry, which sustains about 1,500 fur-related businesses.
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