Monbiot warns bird flu on a Utah mink farm could seed a new pandemic
Guardian columnist George Monbiot, citing a ProPublica investigation, warns that bird flu has been spreading on a mink farm in Utah since August while officials have done little. He renews his call for a global ban on mink farming.
In a column for The Guardian, British writer George Monbiot warns that a mink farm in the US state of Utah, where bird flu has been spreading since August, could give rise to a virus variant that threatens people. He bases the warning on a report by the investigative outlet ProPublica and argues that officials have responded inadequately. These are the columnist's views, not an official finding.
What ProPublica reported
According to ProPublica, Utah authorities have not tried to contain the virus by shutting the farm and culling the mink. Public health officials reportedly have not tested the farm's workers or traced their contacts, even though the workers handle infected animals daily and are often bitten or scratched. Monbiot says the reason given was complaints from the state agriculture department that testing annoyed farmers.
Utah state veterinarian Amanda Price described the outbreak as devastating, but was referring to the farmer's life's work being destroyed. She also said there were few options other than waiting to see what happens, and that the response would change if people began dying. No emergency has been declared because, officials reasoned, it might alert animal rights groups.
Why mink are seen as risky
Monbiot recalls that in 2023 he called for an international treaty banning mink farming. He gives three reasons: mink are fed offcuts from other farm animals, they readily catch both avian and human flu viruses, and they have high potential to pass infections to other species, including humans. He says that of people known to have contracted the H5N1 variant since 1997, 48% have died. The first US death from avian flu this year has been announced; the victim caught it from an infected dairy herd. Transmission between humans is so far extremely low.
The column also criticises US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr for suggesting that chicken farmers consider letting bird flu run through flocks to identify immune birds. Monbiot calls the idea highly dangerous and futile.
