Test results from five mink samples taken from a farm in the Fraser Valley have come back positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans.

The B.C. Ministry of Agriculture says the samples were gathered after eight workers on the farm tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.

The samples were sent to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg. The province says the OIE-World Organization for Animal Health was also notified under international reporting requirements.

“The results were expected, considering the interaction between infected workers and mink on the farm,” said Dave Townsend, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, in a statement.

“Testing to determine genome sequencing and the strain of the virus continues. Results are anticipated in the coming week.”

B.C.’s chief veterinarian has put the farm under quarantine, prohibiting the movement of animals and materials from the property. The farm was inspected as part of a routine inspection process in September, and was found to comply with all animal welfare and biosecurity standards.

The outbreak at this farm is not considered to pose a health risk to other mink farms – but the risk to human health depends on what strain of the virus the mink are carrying.

Millions of mink have been culled in countries like Denmark, Spain, and the Netherlands after a strain of the virus was passed from humans to mink, then back to humans in a mutated form. Cases have also been identified on mink farms in the United States.

There are 60 mink farms in Canada – 13 in British Columbia – but so far, officials do not believe a cull is necessary in this country.