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The Danish government has decided to slaughter millions of minks on more than a thousand farms in the area. The reason would be concern for one mutation in the new coronavirus that has infected mink (and some farmers) and that could interfere with the effectiveness of a vaccine for man. Here are the main scientific concerns and motivations.
12 people with less antibody reaction
Danish authorities have stated that a variant of the virus found in 12 persons who had recently contracted the mink infection in northern Denmark was so worrisome Questions were raised about how well a potential vaccine would work around the world. Due to the discovery of a mutated infection in mink, which weakens the ability to form antibodies, decisive action is needed: kill all minks, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday. The premier, when giving the news, defined it as a situation of extreme gravity. The Danish Statens Serum Institute, the Ministry of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, estimates that the five percent of infections Covid-19 virus among people in North Jutland belong to the new type of mutation of the virus. Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said mutations in the virus have been found in five different mink farms. People who had the new form of the virus were not seriously ill, but did not respond positively to antibody formationhe said. In the worst case, we run the risk that the pandemic starts again from Denmark-based chief, said the Statens Serum Institut.
Intensive agriculture and risk for all
Why is intensive agriculture dangerous in this specific case? He answers Sergio Abrignani, immunologist, professor of General Pathology at the Milan State University: The coronavirus has this “bad habit” of being species jump And it does not only do so in one direction: thinking that the man was the wrong end guest. In the case of farms, in this case of mink, the virus has found an extremely “fertile” situation because the virus needs to have many guests all close to each other, where there is no distance. The animals are thousands in a cage, they are stacked and these viruses replicate continuously. The more they replicate, the more they can generate mutations that can become “winners” of the virus itself and unfavorable for us.
What to do the Danish government
The Danish Veterinary Administration is created a map where you can see where the infection was found on farms (see article photos, ed). There are around 15 million mink in Denmark, the country is one of the largest exporters of mink fur in the world. Animal protection Denmark, an animal advocacy group, has spoken out in favor of the long-term elimination of mink farms: the right decision would be put an end to mink farming entirely and help farmers change their business toward occupations that do not endanger public health and animal welfare, they said in a statement. Mink producers will receive full compensation for the slaughter.
The danger of the vaccine
In fact, the conditions of intensive agriculture constitute what we can call a “Virological pump”: The decision of the Danish authorities has great validity – explains Abrignani – because, while humans impose a confinement, the minks live in a high risk situation. Yes, among the mutations that arise, as it seems in this case, one arises that cancels the work of neutralizing antibodies (those that we want to induce with a vaccine) then “they are pains”. a painful but necessary preventive measure, which can then be discussed later on the topic of livestock.
How can a mutation counteract the effectiveness of the next vaccine? what do chronic viruses do HIV type, constantly changingThat is why it is impossible to make vaccines – says Abrignani -: when a neutralizing antibody against HIV has been made, the virus has already changed and neutralizes a virus that no longer exists. If the mink mutation allowed Spike to spread (the protein used by the coronavirus to enter cells, ed) to bind to the ACE2 receptor, but prevented neutralizing antibodies from doing their job, vaccine trials will have been useless, because what each vaccine under study is trying to do is induce antibodies against Spike that neutralize the interaction between Spike and the ACE2 receptor.
Mutations already identified
The government informed the World Health Organization of the decision. WHO said: We are in contact with them to find out more. With no published studies on the nature of the mutation or on how the virus variant was tested, researchers cannot take a position on this: you must first have the genetic sequences of mutated viruses. In September, Dutch scientists showed in a study (not yet peer-reviewed) that the virus was jumping species, moving from mink to humans. The coronavirus mutates slowly but regularly, and a different variant of the virus would not, in itself, be a cause for concern, experts say. The researchers studied several mutations, including one labeled D614G in the spike protein of the virus, which can increase transmissibility, and a call 20A.EU1 would have gave rise to the second wave European. More data is needed.
The mutated virus would avoid vaccinated people
The problem is that if we give the virus more possibilities to reproduce in an uncontrolled way, in an environment where there are many animals that exchange the virus and can transmit it to the men who work on the farm, in a few months, having a competitive advantage, the “bad” virus, the one that resists vaccination, would be selected in the human species. The risk is not real for now, theoretical, but is based on the experience we have with other viruses, concludes the expert.
and Timor
Minks have also been infected in other countries, including the Netherlands and some states in the US. Thousands of minks died in Utah in the summer due to a coronavirus outbreak, but authorities said the mink did not appear to have transmitted the virus to humans there. In the case of other animals, such as dogs and cats, transmission has always been from man to animal and not the other way around (apart from obviously the species jump occurred in China which led to the birth of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic virus). The jump from one species to another is the most feared due to the possible changes it can cause in viruses. While most of these changes are unlikely to be a problem for humans, there is always the possibility that strains of the virus will become more infectious or more virulent.
November 5, 2020 (change November 5, 2020 | 3:31 PM)
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