SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in Greek mink farms

In the context of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks, Greek farmed minks (Neovison vison) are under surveillance according to the EU guidelines and coordinated by the Greek Ministry of Food and Rural Development and the Greek National Public Health Organization. Farms are under veterinary surveillance to assess coronavirus impact on animal health status, mortality, transmissibility, and the ability to evade the host immune response. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 samples from positive animals are routinely fully sequenced to monitor coronavirus evolution and characterize eventual mink-specific strains, as a proactive measure to avoid mink-to-human transmission and eventual spillover of new variants in the population.