On Jan. 13, 2021, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) continueed to test, survey, and trap at an affected Oregon mink farm after the third round of samples found SARS-CoV-2 still circulating among the herd.

On January 11, the USDA confirmed two out of 62 mink samples collected by ODA on January 5, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The second round of testing that occurred last month on December 21, 2020 showed no sign of the virus among the 62 samples collected.

Based on the location of capture, condition of the mink, and necropsy findings, USDA Wildlife Services and ODFW believe all three captured mink had very recently escaped confinement at the affected farm. In this case, the affected facility is small, and therefore disclosing any individually identifiable information could reasonably result in disclosure of an individual’s medical information, precisely an individual’s COVID-19 status. ODA believes that the COVID status of an identified person is considered personal information that should not be disclosed to the public and would be an unreasonable invasion of privacy.