News & Media: Records Request Reveals Unhurried, Inadequate Response to Bird Flu Outbreak in Utah Farmed Mink
Records Request Reveals Unhurried, Inadequate Response to Bird Flu Outbreak in Utah Farmed Mink
September 17, 2026
Washington, DC-New documents obtained by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) through a public records request confirm an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on a Utah mink farm this August-the first documented HPAI outbreak in captive mink in the United States. The records suggest that neither UDAF nor the US Department of Agriculture had a response plan in place for such an event, and that important biosecurity measures (such as placing the farm under a quarantine) were not implemented once the virus was detected. AWI is calling on federal and state lawmakers to swiftly address this public health threat by phasing out mink farming in the US.
The documents describe an outbreak that has been moving through the farm's mink population since early August, with animals "dying slowly." They reveal that the affected farm is expecting to lose 80% of its mink to the disease. UDAF officials expressed uncertainty about appropriate protocol, ultimately deciding against a quarantine because they had "no idea what the criteria would be to release it." As one official put it, "Our only options at this point are to watch them die or get emergency vaccine approval." The department indicated it did not plan to pursue quarantine or testing measures, reasoning that "nothing live leaves the [farm]"-a rationale that overlooks the movement of farm workers and equipment, the presence of wild animals (including migratory birds) in the area, the potential that infected mink could escape, and the risk of transmission from carcasses of mink who died from HPAI.
When UDAF officials asked the USDA to authorize emergency vaccination that could protect the farm's remaining mink, the USDA likewise failed to respond with urgency: As of September 4 (the date of the latest records received by AWI), it did not appear that any vaccines had been provided.
"This outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza on a US mink farm poses a serious risk to humans, and these records from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food showcase an unacceptable lack of preparation for such a hazardous event," said Kate Dylewsky, assistant director of government affairs at AWI. "It only takes one unlucky mutation of this dangerous virus to trigger a human health crisis, and we can no longer ignore the threat posed by disease proliferation on mink farms. The failure of state and federal officials to prepare for this scenario, or to implement important biosecurity measures in response to the outbreak, demonstrates how mink farming operates with almost no oversight, compounding the threat to the public. It's time to leave this industry in the past."
The science is well established: Mink farms are a public health hazard. Farmed mink pose a particular risk to humans because the upper respiratory tract of a mink is physiologically similar to ours, meaning a virus that mutates to thrive and spread in mink may become more dangerous to people as well. Crowded conditions on fur farms create an ideal setting for pathogens to circulate, and each additional mink that is infected creates another opportunity for the virus to mutate into something transmissible to and between humans.
Over the past several years, tens of thousands of captive mink in the United States-and millions worldwide-have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and mink-to-human transmission of variants of this virus have been reported in at least five countries.
The H5N1 virus, which causes avian influenza, has also infected tens of thousands of mink on dozens of European fur farms since 2022. During an October 2022 outbreak on a mink farm in Spain, the virus gained at least one mutation that favors mammal-to-mammal spread (rather than bird-to-mammal), allowing it to proliferate among mink. Scientists called this mink farm outbreak a "clear mechanism for an H5 pandemic to start" and "a warning bell." H5N1 infections were also detected at multiple mink farms in Finland in 2023.
Concerningly, Congress is considering inclusion of language in the Farm Bill that would allow the mink farming industry to receive taxpayer dollars to develop and expand into international markets. Given the clear and urgent risks to public health associated with mink farming, it is a grave error for the Farm Bill to promote the use of public funds to keep this industry afloat.
To address the public health threat of mink farming, AWI has spearheaded the introduction in Congress of the Mink: Vectors for Infection Risk in the United States Act (Mink VIRUS Act). Sponsored by Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), this bill would establish a one-year phaseout of mink fur farms in the US and create a grant program to reimburse mink farmers for the full value of their farms. This US outbreak of HPAI underscores the urgent need to enact the Mink VIRUS Act.
AWI has also led the push for the Finding Urgent Relief from Vectors for Infection Risk and Unchecked Spillover (FUR VIRUS) Act in Illinois, which would implement crucial disease prevention measures by barring the establishment of new fur farms in the state.
