Established in 2020 Wednesday, March 27, 2024


Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus
Employees from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration and the Danish Emergency Management Agency wearing protective equipment work to kill minks in Gjol, Denmark, on October 8, 2020. Henning Bagger / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP.



COPENHAGEN (AFP).- Denmark, the world's biggest producer of mink fur, said Wednesday it would cull all of the country's minks after a mutated version of the new coronavirus was detected at mink farms and had spread to people.

The mutation "could pose a risk that future (coronavirus) vaccines won't work the way they should," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a press conference.

"It is necessary to cull all the minks."

Denmark's police chief Thorkild Fogde said they would start the culling as "soon as possible," but conceded that with 15 million to 17 million minks spread over 1,080 farms it was "a very large undertaking".

The World Health Organization said the novel coronavirus spreads primarily through human-to-human transmission, but that "there is evidence of transmission at the human-animal interface".

Several animals -- including dogs and cats -- have tested positive for the virus and there have been reported cases at mink farms in the Netherlands and Spain, as well as in Denmark.




"In a few instances, the minks that were infected by humans have transmitted the virus to other people. These are the first reported cases of animal-to-human transmission," the WHO said in a statement sent to AFP.

The novel coronavirus has been detected at 207 Danish mink farms, including some cases with a mutated version that has been confirmed to spread back to humans.

Health authorities have also concluded that the mutated virus "is not inhibited by antibodies to the same degree as the normal virus".

"Studies have shown that the mutations may affect the current candidates for a Covid-19 vaccine," Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said.

"It is a threat to the development of coronavirus vaccines. That is why it is important that we make a national effort," he added.

While the majority of cases had been observed in the northern part of the Jutland region, all minks in the country would still be culled.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is developing new technical guidance on animal health, including on testing and quarantine, the WHO said.

© Agence France-Presse







Today's News

November 5, 2020

Radio burst from within Milky Way may help solve cosmic mystery

Five-eyed fossil shrimp is evolutionary 'missing link'

Luminescent wood could light up homes of the future

UH and CWRU announce study of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine candidate

A woman's place? Out hunting with spears, study finds

Galaxies have gotten hotter as they've gotten older

Bats can predict the future, JHU researchers discover

Automated blood oxygen monitoring system to boost COVID-19 fight

Brown carbon 'tarballs' detected in Himalayan atmosphere

New flexible and highly reliable sensor

Western diet impairs odor-related learning and olfactory memory in mice

Hot or cold, weather alone has no significant effect on COVID-19 spread

Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

Scientists find chink in coral-eating starfish armour

A single-application treatment for ear infections that doesn't need refrigeration

Self-watering soil could transform farming

New research confirms obesity is a cause of kidney disease

Fighting food fraud from farm to fork with a mobile ingredient tracing system



 


Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez



Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the ResearchNews newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful