Utah Has No Plan to Cull Bird Flu Mink as Genomes Reveal a Mutation Also Found in Spain’s Fur Farm Outbreak
A day later, a ProPublica investigation reported that the outbreak had continued for more than two months at C&T Fenn Farms, and that officials had neither ordered a cull nor actively monitored workers. On Oct. 23, the CDC's weekly FluView report also confirmed that a Washington dairy worker's infection was H5N1, the first H5 case tied to a dairy worker in that state. USDA's national lab confirmed the virus in captive mink on Aug. 17 from samples taken Aug. 7. The 10 genomes sit inside the 2026 cattle cluster, with the closest relatives found in Texas dairy cattle sampled May 28. That three-month gap means the exact route onto the farm is unknown. The genetic diversity suggests a single introduction around July 4, with a likely window of June 21 to July 15. In plain terms, the virus probably spread undetected among the mink for several weeks before anyone tested them. The authors ruled…