Hi reddit, I am Wim van der Poel, professor in emerging and zoonotic viruses at Wageningen University & Research. In the Netherlands there have been 69 mink farms with COVID-19 outbreaks since April. I’m one of the authors of the just published Science paper “Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on mink farms between humans, mink and back to humans”.

Besides bats, animals such as mustelids (which include mink), hamster, felines, dogs and monkeys are also susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. The Netherlands was the first country with outbreaks on mink farms. The spread was not limited from humans to mink, but the virus was also transmitted from mink back to humans. I’m part of the Outbreak Management Team that advised the Dutch government to put a closing scheme into place for all mink farms.

COVID-19 in mink and other animals can pose a public health threat, especially because in the jump between species virus mutations can take place, like in Denmark. And this can potentially make the virus more virulent. It has been suggested that vaccines under development could be become less effective in protecting people against SARS-CoV-2.

Thursday 12 November from 11 am EST I’m here to answer your questions about the coronavirus in mink and other animals, jumps between species and mutations of the virus. (Proof)

Ask me anything!

Edit: Thanks for all of your great questions reddit, and to the mods for hosting this AMA! It’s been fun, but I'm going to call it a day here. If you want more info, you can visit the Q&A on the Wageningen University & Research website as well.

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About my line of research

I am research leader 'Emerging and Zoonotic Viruses' at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, coordinator of the EPIZONE European Research Group and a principal investigator within the Netherlands Centre for One Health. My research focuses on the interconnection between the health of people, animals, and their environments. The past year has made it evident that we have to be (better) prepared for emerging viruses such as the coronavirus. Together with my team, I’ve developed a diagnostic pipeline that can be used to characterize new pathogens more quickly. I’m also urging for a large international project to map zoonotic viruses. The faster we can detect and characterize viruses, the greater the chance of containment.