Isophoric News · Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Reports describe an unresolved response to a bird flu outbreak at a Utah mink farm
An outbreak of bird flu at a mink farm about an hour from Salt Lake City has run for about two months, with state officials reportedly unable to get federal help, according to the Guardian, which was relaying reporting by ProPublica. The Guardian said ProPublica obtained messages through Utah's public records law showing a state veterinarian was told by federal agriculture officials that they did not regulate mink farms and had no approved vaccine for mink, and that officials reportedly did not test farm workers for symptoms despite CDC guidance. The farm owner told ProPublica a worker's red eye was dust and the state health department did not recommend testing, the Guardian reported. The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food said earlier this month that, because this is the first avian influenza outbreak in mink in the country, there is no precedent for the response, and it had applied a "verbal hold" rather than a legal quarantine, according to Utah News Dispatch. Jennifer Nuzzo of Brown University's School of Public Health told the Guardian that the sick mink are unlikely to produce a "tidal wave of human infections" but that she was troubled by what she called an apparent lack of transparency. Utah News Dispatch reported that a state spokesperson said transmission to humans had not yet proven a high risk, that state records showed seven cases among captive mink in Salt Lake County confirmed in August (the agency said the data might be incomplete), and that vaccination can only be approved by the federal agriculture secretary. The Animal Welfare Institute, which obtained records, said the farm expected to lose about 80% of its mink. The USDA did not immediately respond to the Guardian's request for comment, and the Guardian could not reach the owner.
