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IThere are far more minks in Denmark than there are Danish, and a powerful garment industry has grown around them and their fur. With around 17 million minks on around 1200 farms, the country is the largest mink fur producer. But this industry is threatened with an abrupt end, due to Corona. Mink can become infected with the virus and infect people. After outbreaks on mink farms in other countries in recent months and many animals had to be euthanized, Denmark has now announced a drastic step: all minks must be euthanized as soon as possible. There were also restrictions on Thursday for Danes living in the affected areas.
Matthias Wyssuwa
Political Correspondent for Northern Germany and Scandinavia based in Hamburg.
The reason for these decisions sounds dramatic. As Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced on Wednesday, mutated forms of the corona virus have been detected in twelve people who were infected with mink in the north of the country. A mutated virus could have consequences for everyone and the situation is extremely dire, he said. “The Danish mink could trigger the next wave of pandemics,” wrote the newspaper “Politiken” on Thursday. If the country fails to contain the special variant of the virus, which spreads rapidly in north and south Jutland between mink and humans, it could eventually become known as the “Danish virus”.
The Danish Health Minister reported the cases to the EU Commission and WHO. Frederiksen said the virus mutated in the mink and then spread to humans. The viruses found have been shown to be less sensitive to antibodies, so there is a risk that the vaccine will not work properly. The director of the state health institute Kåre Mølbak said that in the worst case scenario, the pandemic in Denmark would start again because the immunity gained through infection or vaccination was lost. Last week, 783 corona infections were recorded in North Jutland. About half of them were due to mink-associated virus strains.
On Thursday night, the Danish government finally drew more conclusions. Frederiksen announced far-reaching restrictions for the affected North Jutland region, a de facto blockade. The approximately 280,000 inhabitants of seven municipalities are urged to stay there; others should not travel there. Restaurants, sports halls and fitness studios will be closed. Mølbak made it clear at the press conference that the virus is no more dangerous than previously known variants, but that it reacts completely differently with regard to the effect of antibodies.
