[ad_1]
The news that the coronavirus went from humans to minks, mutated, and then jumped backwards has raised understandable concern.
Officially, 12 people have been infected on farms so far, mainly in northern Denmark, but the Danish health minister has admitted that up to half of the 783 human cases of Covid in the region may be mink-related. This implies that the mutated virus is spreading from person to person, but how concerned should we be?
Is it normal for viruses to mutate in this way?
Viruses continually accumulate mutations as they replicate and circulate in populations, but most are harmless. Only a few will change the ability of a virus to infect people or cause more serious illness.
“Sars-CoV-2 is not mutating as fast as other related viruses, but because it has been circulating in the human population for some time, a large set of mutations has emerged,” said Professor David Robertson, director of Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics at the University of Glasgow Virus Research Center.
These don’t seem to have made it any more dangerous so far, but if a virus jumps into a different species, it increases the pressure on it to adapt. Therefore, its transmission to the mink and back to humans has generated legitimate concern.
What we know about coronavirus mutations?
Seven mutations have been identified so far, all of them in the “spike protein” on the surface of the virus, which it uses to enter cells. One, called Y435, was previously identified in an outbreak of Sars-CoV-2 at a mink farm in the Netherlands in April. It was also transmitted to humans, but does not appear to have spread.
“I think it’s more about being aware that the virus can enter animal populations and return to humans,” said Julian Hiscox, director of infection and global health at the University of Liverpool.
“The more genetic diversity there is in the virus, the more evolutionary space it has to play with. One of the reasons to try to keep the number of cases as low as possible [in humans and animals], is to reduce the genetic diversity of the virus ”.
We should be worried?
There are reports that virus particles with one of these mutations are less neutralized by antibodies in people who have had Covid-19. In theory, this could make a vaccine less effective, particularly since many of the vaccines in development target the spike protein.
“The true implication of changes in the spike protein has not yet been evaluated by the international scientific community and is therefore unclear,” said Professor James Wood, head of the department of veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge . “It is too early to say that the change will cause vaccines or immunity to fail.”
It is also relatively easy to modify vaccines. This happens every year with the flu vaccine.
So while we shouldn’t necessarily be terrified that this mutation has occurred, scientists should keep a close eye on it. Coronavirus clearary has the ability to jump from humans to animals and vice versa, and it seems to be quite good at it.
Do Does the mink really need to be euthanized?
It’s probably a wise precaution. “Removal of the mink may not in itself cause the strain to disappear, but it may prevent more mutant strains from developing in that species,” Wood said.
