Denmark finds 214 people with mink-related virus
New strain has mutations that could pose risk to future Covid-19 vaccines, say experts
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said seven municipalities in northern Denmark will face movement curbs across county lines
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
PUBLISHED NOV 7, 2020
COPENHAGEN • Denmark's State Serum Institute, which deals with infectious diseases, has found mink-related versions of the coronavirus in 214 people since June, according to a report on its website.
One strain of the mutated coronavirus, which has prompted Denmark to cull its entire herd of minks, has however been found only in 12 people and on five mink farms so far.
Denmark had announced strict new lockdown rules on Thursday in the north of the country after the authorities discovered a mutated coronavirus strain in minks bred in the region, prompting a nationwide cull that will devastate the large pelt industry.
The government said on Wednesday that it would cull all minks - up to 17 million - to prevent human contagion with a mutated coronavirus, which the authorities said could be more resistant to future vaccines.
Seven municipalities in northern Denmark, home to most of the country's mink farms, will face restrictions on movement across county lines, while restaurants and bars will be closed, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.
Schools will be closed and all public transport will be shut until Dec 3, she said, encouraging residents in the region to stay within their municipality and get tested.
For Denmark's mink pelt industry, which racked up exports of around US$800 million (S$1 billion) last year and employs 4,000 people, the cull could amount to a death knell. The industry association for Danish breeders called the move a "black day for Denmark".
"Of course, we must not be the cause of a new pandemic. We do not know the professional basis for this assessment and risk... but the government's decision is a disaster for the industry and Denmark," association chairman Tage Pedersen said.
In its report, the institute said laboratory tests showed the new strain had mutations on its so-called spike protein, a part of the virus that invades and infects healthy cells.
That poses a risk to future Covid-19 vaccines, which are based on disabling the spike protein, the institute said.
Dr Ian Jones, a virology professor from Britain's University of Reading, said the virus would be expected to mutate in a new species.
"It must adapt to be able to use mink receptors to enter cells and so will modify the spike protein to enable this to happen efficiently," he explained.
"The danger is that the mutated virus could then spread back into man and evade any vaccine response which would have been designed to the original, non-mutated version of the spike protein, and not the mink-adapted version."
Dr James Wood, a professor of veterinary medicine from Cambridge University, cautioned that the true implication of the changes in the spike protein had not yet been fully assessed by scientists.
"It is too early to say that the change will cause either vaccines or immunity to fail," he said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday it is now looking at biosecurity around mink farms across the world to prevent further "spillover events".
Dr Maria van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead for Covid-19, told a briefing in Geneva yesterday that transmission of the virus between animals and humans was "a concern", but added: "Mutations (in viruses) are normal. These type of changes in the virus are something we have been tracking since the beginning."
"We are working with regional offices... where there are mink farms, and looking at biosecurity and to prevent spillover events," Dr van Kerkhove said.
PUBLISHED NOV 7, 2020
COPENHAGEN • Denmark's State Serum Institute, which deals with infectious diseases, has found mink-related versions of the coronavirus in 214 people since June, according to a report on its website.
One strain of the mutated coronavirus, which has prompted Denmark to cull its entire herd of minks, has however been found only in 12 people and on five mink farms so far.
Denmark had announced strict new lockdown rules on Thursday in the north of the country after the authorities discovered a mutated coronavirus strain in minks bred in the region, prompting a nationwide cull that will devastate the large pelt industry.
The government said on Wednesday that it would cull all minks - up to 17 million - to prevent human contagion with a mutated coronavirus, which the authorities said could be more resistant to future vaccines.
Seven municipalities in northern Denmark, home to most of the country's mink farms, will face restrictions on movement across county lines, while restaurants and bars will be closed, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.
Schools will be closed and all public transport will be shut until Dec 3, she said, encouraging residents in the region to stay within their municipality and get tested.
For Denmark's mink pelt industry, which racked up exports of around US$800 million (S$1 billion) last year and employs 4,000 people, the cull could amount to a death knell. The industry association for Danish breeders called the move a "black day for Denmark".
"Of course, we must not be the cause of a new pandemic. We do not know the professional basis for this assessment and risk... but the government's decision is a disaster for the industry and Denmark," association chairman Tage Pedersen said.
In its report, the institute said laboratory tests showed the new strain had mutations on its so-called spike protein, a part of the virus that invades and infects healthy cells.
That poses a risk to future Covid-19 vaccines, which are based on disabling the spike protein, the institute said.
Dr Ian Jones, a virology professor from Britain's University of Reading, said the virus would be expected to mutate in a new species.
"It must adapt to be able to use mink receptors to enter cells and so will modify the spike protein to enable this to happen efficiently," he explained.
"The danger is that the mutated virus could then spread back into man and evade any vaccine response which would have been designed to the original, non-mutated version of the spike protein, and not the mink-adapted version."
Dr James Wood, a professor of veterinary medicine from Cambridge University, cautioned that the true implication of the changes in the spike protein had not yet been fully assessed by scientists.
"It is too early to say that the change will cause either vaccines or immunity to fail," he said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday it is now looking at biosecurity around mink farms across the world to prevent further "spillover events".
Dr Maria van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead for Covid-19, told a briefing in Geneva yesterday that transmission of the virus between animals and humans was "a concern", but added: "Mutations (in viruses) are normal. These type of changes in the virus are something we have been tracking since the beginning."
"We are working with regional offices... where there are mink farms, and looking at biosecurity and to prevent spillover events," Dr van Kerkhove said.
She said Denmark's decision to cull its minks was aimed at preventing the establishment of "a new animal reservoir for this virus".
Britain said it is removing Denmark from the government's travel corridor list. People arriving in Britain from Denmark now need to self-isolate.
"Passengers arriving into the UK from Denmark from 4am on Friday 6 November 2020 will need to self-isolate for 14 days by law before following domestic restrictions now in force," British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement.
Britain also removed Sweden and Germany from its travel corridor on Thursday.
REUTERS
About Europe's mink industry
COPENHAGEN • Denmark is Europe's largest exporter of mink pelts.
Here are some key facts about the industry in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe:
• The Netherlands, another major European Union exporter, accelerated a plan to phase out mink farming after two humans were infected with Covid-19 during the first coronavirus wave in May. More than 100 Dutch producers - with around 800,000 mother animals - have been ordered to close three years early by March next year, at a cost of €180 million (S$288 million) to the Dutch government. The coronavirus has been found at 69 Dutch mink farms. Dutch health experts are still working to determine to what extent the farms are a source of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
• France, which exported roughly €120 million worth of fur last year, has decided to outlaw mink farming from 2025.
• The authorities in Denmark said five cases of the new virus strain had been recorded on mink farms and 12 cases in humans, who are believed to have caught the illness from animals.
• Spain culled 93,000 animals at a farm in the Aragon region in July after an outbreak there.
• The European Union is one of the world's main sources of fur clothing, led by Denmark, Finland, Italy, Poland, Greece and the Netherlands. Exports are worth hundreds of millions of euros annually, according to the UN Comtrade database.
• Animal rights group Humane Society International - United Kingdom said China, Denmark and Poland are the largest mink producers globally, with 60 million minks killed annually for their fur.
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Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus
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Britain said it is removing Denmark from the government's travel corridor list. People arriving in Britain from Denmark now need to self-isolate.
"Passengers arriving into the UK from Denmark from 4am on Friday 6 November 2020 will need to self-isolate for 14 days by law before following domestic restrictions now in force," British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement.
Britain also removed Sweden and Germany from its travel corridor on Thursday.
REUTERS
About Europe's mink industry
COPENHAGEN • Denmark is Europe's largest exporter of mink pelts.
Here are some key facts about the industry in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe:
• The Netherlands, another major European Union exporter, accelerated a plan to phase out mink farming after two humans were infected with Covid-19 during the first coronavirus wave in May. More than 100 Dutch producers - with around 800,000 mother animals - have been ordered to close three years early by March next year, at a cost of €180 million (S$288 million) to the Dutch government. The coronavirus has been found at 69 Dutch mink farms. Dutch health experts are still working to determine to what extent the farms are a source of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
• France, which exported roughly €120 million worth of fur last year, has decided to outlaw mink farming from 2025.
• The authorities in Denmark said five cases of the new virus strain had been recorded on mink farms and 12 cases in humans, who are believed to have caught the illness from animals.
• Spain culled 93,000 animals at a farm in the Aragon region in July after an outbreak there.
• The European Union is one of the world's main sources of fur clothing, led by Denmark, Finland, Italy, Poland, Greece and the Netherlands. Exports are worth hundreds of millions of euros annually, according to the UN Comtrade database.
• Animal rights group Humane Society International - United Kingdom said China, Denmark and Poland are the largest mink producers globally, with 60 million minks killed annually for their fur.
Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus
Mink linked to human Covid-19 case prompts Dutch to screen farms
REUTERS
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