Editor’s note: The following letter has been sent to U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, who serves Wisconsin’s Fifth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district includes all of Jefferson County, including a portion of Whitewater within Jefferson County, all of Washington County, most of Waukesha County, and portions of Dodge, Milwaukee and Walworth counties. The letter, which follows, has been sent to WhitewaterWise by its author for publication.

Dear Representative Fitzgerald,

Thank you for your time, attention, and consideration.

Over the last 10 days, outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu have impacted baby goats (10 perished in Minnesota, less than 170 miles from Minneapolis) and most recently, dairy cattle in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas. Additionally, the infectious pathogen has been detected in raw, unpasteurized milk from avian influenza-infected animals.

Due to their physiology as well as living and feeding conditions while in captivity, minks serve as potential virus “super-spreaders.” As a result, veterinarians, epidemiologists, and others throughout the nation are sounding the alarm, calling for an end to fur farming in the U.S. A number of other countries have taken, or are currently n the process of taking, this measure for myriad reasons.  

There is strongly-supported bipartisan legislation which would help reduce risks of spreading devastating bird flu—Minks in Narrowly Kept Spaces are Superspreaders Act, H.R. 7670. Sponsored by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC-1), H.R. 7670 currently has 14 co-sponsors, 7 of whom are Republicans. Representative Fitzgerald, I am asking you to support this important public health and safety legislation.

Here are some key reasons why:

1. Experts indicate continued farming of minks will pose ongoing and potentially greater risks of illness and even death for American agricultural workers and fur farm owners, as well as population pandemics.     

2. Minks can serve as mixing vessels for various types of viruses, including novel pandemic viruses. Historically, mink infections with different virus subtypes have included H5N6, H9N2, and human/swine H3N2 and H3N2 variants, in addition to H5N1 bird flu.   

3. Mink have similar respiratory systems as humans, and as a result, have become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID) virus as well as H5N1 avian influenza virus. Hundreds of thousands of mink have died in several countries (including the U.S.) over the past 4 years from SARS/COVID virus and most recently, from avian influenza H5N1. In Summer 2020, more than 60% of mink farm workers in the southeastern Netherlands tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 or had antibodies to the virus. More than 50,000 minks at a farm in Spain perished after an H5N1 bird flu outbreak in Fall 2022.

4. Mink are farmed for elegant fashion—not as a foodstuff for our people or those in other nations.   

5. H.R. 7670 includes a phase-out period and provisions for the establishment of a USDA- grant program to reimburse mink farmers that transition out of fur farming.

6. The recent avian influenza outbreaks in livestock, which have never before been reported in the U.S., are raising many new, perplexing questions and concerns. Enacting this legislation is one logical and doable step which we can take to help protect American livestock, wildlife, human health, and public safety.  

Representative Fitzgerald–Please support H.R. 7670 as a sponsor. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Anita J. Martin, B.S.

Jefferson County Supervisor, 2020-2024

District 13, Lake Mills