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New Danish corona virus mutates, WHO issues warning again
International war “epidemic” operation
Our newspaper’s Germany correspondent Li Shan, internal reporter Zhang Jiaxin
The Nordic country Denmark is the world’s largest mink producer, accounting for an estimated 40% of world production. Denmark is also the world’s largest exporter of mink fur. Today, between 15 and 17 million minks are raised on more than 1,100 farms. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, around a third of the COVID-19 cases in Denmark have been traced to mink farms.
On November 5, Denmark discovered a new mutated coronavirus that can be transmitted to humans in a mink farm, and after confirming that this mutation may represent a challenge for future vaccines against the new coronavirus, decided to culminate up to 17 million minks and strictly Block the relevant area of North Jutland.
This matter has aroused world public opinion. So far, six countries, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy and the United States, have informed the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) about the new coronavirus found in farmed minks. On November 6, the regular press conference of the World Health Organization (WHO) gave a timely voice.
Discovery of the variation, Denmark announced an emergency culling of all farmed minks
In 207 mink farms, the Danish health department detected the new coronavirus and found that at least 12 cases of the new coronavirus infecting humans had genetic mutations. The Danish Minister of Health has reported these cases to the European Commission and WHO.
Danish Prime Minister Mett Fredriksen cited a government report according to which the mutant virus has been found to be less sensitive to antibodies, so there is a risk that the new corona vaccine being developed will not work. Kaul Morbach, technical director of the Danish Institute of Health, said that this mutated virus is no more dangerous than other known variants of the new coronavirus, but its response to antibodies is completely different.
Famous Danish virologist Anders Fomsgaard said: “Through genetic analysis, we can clearly show that the virus spread from humans to minks, where it rapidly mutated and then returned to humans.” The problem is, even if only one animal is infected, in fact the entire population will get sick. This is a great source of viruses. The more mutations the virus has, the more difficult it will be to fight the new corona pandemic.
Vermsgaard said: “This may mean that future vaccines will have little or no effect, or that people who have successfully recovered are not yet immune.”
Since the mutated virus poses a risk to the efficacy of the new corona vaccine, Danish Prime Minister Fredriksen announced on November 4 that all farmed minks in Denmark will be euthanized urgently. Although it is “an arduous task” that will directly affect the work of some 6,000 people and cause billions of euros in damages, Frederickson emphasized: “We have a heavy responsibility to our people, but with the mutations now discovered, we also have a greater responsibility for the rest of the world. “The situation is extremely dire right now.
On the night of November 5, the Danish government announced a strict blockade of North Jutland to prevent this new mutated corona virus from spreading to other parts of Denmark and even other parts of the world. The Danish government has stopped public transport in the seven cities and related regions, urging some 280,000 residents to stay in their cities and not enter through outsiders. Local restaurants, stadiums and gyms will be closed. Students will be taught online. All citizens of the affected communities will be screened for the new crown.
Frederickson said, “The eyes of the whole world are on us.” This is a “real cord”, a real lock.
WHO says mink can be used as a host for the new coronavirus
On November 6, the WHO responded to the incident at a regular press conference on COVID-19. In response to Denmark’s claim that the new coronavirus mutation was “human-to-human”, WHO chief scientist Sumia Swaminathan said the WHO has started tracking more than 170,000 new sequences of genes of the corona virus and there is no evidence that the new corona is in the mink. The mutation of the virus will affect the efficacy of the vaccine and, at the moment, no conclusions can be drawn.
On the same day, the official WHO website issued a statement on this matter, stating that since June this year, Denmark has 214 confirmed cases of human infection with new corona pneumonia, 12 of which are related to the mutation of the new corona virus in mink farms reported on November 5. . These 12 cases of the virus were found in North Jutland, Denmark, in September this year. The age of these cases ranged between 7 and 79 years, of which 8 were related to the mink industry and 4 were from the local community.
According to the WHO, preliminary observations have shown that the clinical manifestations, severity and infection of infected people are similar to those of other new epidemic coronaviruses. However, this variant of the virus has mutations or combinations of mutations that have not been observed before, and the specific mutations are not yet clear. Preliminary research results indicate that this specific mink-related mutation found in mink and in 12 human cases has reduced sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies.
“All viruses can change over time.” The WHO said in a statement: “Mink will also become infected after contact with an infected person. Mink can serve as a host for the new coronavirus and then spread the new coronavirus within the same species.” At the same time, it poses the risk of the mink virus to humans. “
The Danish Public Health Administration recently reported the discovery of new coronavirus mutations in humans, which need to be confirmed and further evaluated. These investigations take time and require close cooperation between different research groups.
The WHO stated that it is working with Danish scientists to better understand the current situation and carry out more research work to understand the impact of the virus on the diagnosis, treatment and development of vaccines for existing diseases.
