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Makeup grown in North Jutland in Denmark is infected with a special variant of the coronavirus. The same mutation has been found in infected people in the area.
This is what Chief Physician Anders Fomsgaard, responsible for virus research and development at the Statens Serum Institut, tells Danmarks Radio.
At the institute, which is the central laboratory of the Danish national health service and the center for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, they now fear the consequences of the infection.
“We are concerned that the virus mutated in these animals infects humans with a variant of the coronavirus that is insensitive to the vaccine that is being developed,” says Fomsgaard.
– It is the vaccine that will save us and give us herd immunity, so that we can return to normal daily life, adds Fomsgaard.
Sharp increase since summer
The first cases of corona-infected minks in Denmark were discovered on a farm in Vendsyssel in June. Samples were taken from the animals after infection was detected in two people working with farm makeup. Since then, the infection has spread rapidly.
In total, infection has been detected in 80 of the mink farms in both North and Central Jutland in Denmark. The authorities have decided that all infected or suspected herds should be culled. This also applies to mink farms that are close to farms where infection has been demonstrated.
Now work is underway to kill more than 1.5 million animals in 100 herds.
Employees of the Danish veterinarian and the food administration are in the process of killing minks infected with corona or that they fear are infected. The mink dies when gassed in a box.
Photo: Henning Bagger / Ritzau Scanpix
High risk of infection
According to the Danish authorities, mink farmers are more likely to be infected by humans than nurses and doctors..
– The mink is face to face. They don’t keep their distance. So when you are infected, the virus spreads quickly, chief physician Anders Fomsgaard tells Danish TV 2.
There is also a more biological reason why the mink is infected, says Peter Ben Embarek. He is an infectious disease researcher at the World Health Organization.
– The virus has adapted to fur-clad animals in the same way that it has adapted to humans, says Embarek.
The adaptability of the virus means that the disease can be transmitted from mink to humans.
– We know that the virus mutates and we know that mink can infect humans just like humans infect mink. But we have seen that there are some mutations of the virus that only occur in mink. There are more and more of these mutations as more herds become infected, says chief physician Anders Fomsgaard, who is responsible for virus research and development at the Statens Serum Institut.
He explains to Danmarks Radio that they have seen the mutation in the protein, the so-called spikes, which are found on the surface of the virus.
– This is where the antibodies from all the vaccines being tested will bind and neutralize the virus, says Fomsgaard.
According to Denmark’s Agriculture Minister Mogens Jensen, this danger of a mutated virus inhibiting the vaccine is a decisive reason for the drastic decision to kill so many animals.
Denmark is the largest in the world for crop makeup.
According to the authorities, farmers who have to slaughter their animals should receive financial compensation from the state.
