Illinois Bill Would Require Disease Monitoring on Mink Farms to Safeguard Human Health

a farmed mink lies in a metal cage
Photo by Jo-Anne McArthur/Djurrattsalliansen

Washington, DC—The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) commends today’s filing of the Mink Facility Disease Prevention Act in Illinois, which would protect public health and human safety by requiring disease prevention and surveillance measures at farms that raise and slaughter mink for their fur.

Sponsored by State Rep. Joyce Mason (D-61), HB 2627 recognizes that mink on fur farms incubate diseases such as COVID-19 and avian influenza, creating the perfect conditions for new variants to jump to humans — with potentially devastating results. Mink farms in the state would be required to obtain a license from the Illinois Department of Public Health and follow procedures to ensure proper disease surveillance and containment.

“I am proud to sponsor the Mink Facility Disease Prevention Act because the science is clear – mink farming poses a high risk of generating a future pandemic,” said Mason. “It is critical that we remain vigilant and test for viral outbreaks on mink farms to safeguard public health. This bill seeks to position Illinois as a leader in commonsense measures to detect and prevent the spread of dangerous novel viruses.”

Mink farms raise and slaughter animals to sell their pelts to the fashion industry. They typically pack thousands of mink together in long rows of barren pens barely large enough for the animals to move around. The conditions not only are inhumane, they also create an ideal setting for pathogens to circulate among and across species.

Mink pose a high risk to humans because their upper respiratory tract is physiologically similar to ours, which means they can become infected by — and potentially transmit to people — some of the same respiratory viruses. Mink’s susceptibility to acquiring and spreading both human and animal respiratory viruses render them potentially potent “mixing vessels” for generating novel viruses.

COVID-19, in fact, has infected millions of farmed mink on more than 480 mink farms across 12 countries. In several instances, mink have passed a mutated form of this virus back to humans. New variants can emerge in such scenarios, undermining the effectiveness of vaccines and jeopardizing efforts to contain the pandemic.

A deadly avian influenza virus (H5N1) has also infected tens of thousands of mink on dozens of fur farms since 2022. During an October 2022 outbreak on a farm in Spain, the virus mutated in a way that enabled it to spread between mink. Prior to this, mammals had contracted the virus primarily through direct contact with infected birds, not from infected mammals. Scientists called this H5N1 mink farm outbreak a “warning bell” and stated that it represented a “clear mechanism for an [H5N1] pandemic to start.” H5N1 infections have also been detected at multiple mink farms in Finland, demonstrating the potential for this dangerous virus to continue causing outbreaks on mink farms, and raising the specter that it will mutate into a form transmissible to and between humans.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the risk of disease proliferation on mink farms, and the possibility of human infection,” said Susan Millward, AWI’s executive director and chief executive officer. “For far too long, these farms have operated without any meaningful oversight, despite their capacity to incubate potentially devastating viruses. Pandemic prevention requires a multifaceted approach, and the Mink Facility Disease Prevention Act is crucial to that effort.”

Media Contact Information

Marjorie Fishman, Animal Welfare Institute
[email protected], (202) 446-2128

The Animal Welfare Institute (awionline.org) is a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1951 and dedicated to alleviating animal suffering caused by people. We seek to improve the welfare of animals everywhere: in agriculture, in commerce, in our homes and communities, in research, and in the wild. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and LinkedIn for updates and other important animal protection news.