Concern over Denmark’s mutated coronavirus strain as tests begin on Irish mink farms

HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE said that precautionary measures were taken amid concerns about a variant of the coronavirus discovered in Danish mink farms.

Over the weekend, the government said that anyone arriving from Denmark in Ireland will be asked to restrict their movements for two weeks.

Testing on the country’s three mink farms has started to see if the virus is present in Irish mink. The Department of Agriculture said serial testing will also be conducted on all workers on these farms and their household contacts.

Tonight, Medical Director Dr Tony Holohan said that NPHET had a risk assessment meeting on Friday and met over the weekend to identify measures that need to be implemented preventively in Ireland. He said communications have been sent to front-line doctors to raise awareness of the importance of travel history in relation to Denmark.

Announcements will be made on self-isolation recommendations on flights and entry points for travelers arriving from Denmark. Anyone suspected of having this variant will have their evidence sent to the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL) for genome sequencing.

He said ECDC is expected to provide guidance on the issue this week.

NVRL Director Dr Cillian de Gascun said that at this stage it is difficult to know the implications of this new variant, but it is concerning that laboratory studies have shown that it is more resistant to neutralizing antibodies.

“We know that many of the vaccines currently in development target a similar region of the genome and are essentially designed to induce a neutralizing antibody response. So it is too early and too early to worry too much, but I think in the worst case scenario, you are potentially starting a vaccination program with a mutant that is potentially resistant to the antibodies that vaccines are going to elicit, “he said. . said.

“That is the worst case, so I think what the Danish authorities have done is very important, I think they have acted very quickly. We certainly want to control the spread of this new variant.

“The point is, for it to have a significant impact on any vaccination program, it would need to become the dominant strain globally, and that is probably unlikely. This is a virus adapted to the mink, so as it is transmitted to humans, we would expect to see it adapt and change again. But fortunately at this time it does not appear to be more transmissible in humans or more virulent or severe in humans. “

He said there is no evidence for this mutation in humans in Ireland and that the Department of Agriculture will provide sequences for mink that can be studied in the laboratory.

Denmark was forced to cull the entire mink in the country, due to the mutated strain that spreads from animals to humans.

As the world’s largest producer of mink fur, Denmark has 1,080 mink farms, and Covid-19 was detected in 207 of them.

According to the World Health Organization, on November 5, Danish health authorities reported 12 cases of Covid-19 caused by a strain of the new coronavirus associated with mink.

Eight of these cases had ties to mink farms, while the remaining four were from the local community.