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During the week, it has been discovered that mink covid-19 infection can be transmitted to humans in such a mutated way that it may pose a threat to future vaccinations.
The discovery has led to strong measures in Denmark. 14 million minks will be killed, and seven municipalities in the northern part of Jutland will be affected by a hard shutdown.
Twelve people in Denmark have already been infected with the mutated virus known as “Cluster 5”.
Mink farms in Sweden have also been affected by the coronavirus, but the mutated form is not yet known here.
The call to Sweden: stop this in time
Hans Jörn Kolmos, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, says the situation is very dire.
There are ten infected mink farms in Sweden, including Sölvesborg in Blekinge.
He tells BLT that he thinks the mutated virus is in Blekinge.
– It is inconceivable that mutated viruses do not spread from minks. Mutations happen all the time and the risk is obvious that a new group will emerge that could threaten all vaccine production in the world, he tells the newspaper.
– I have already said about Jutland, but Blekinge may also be the new Wuhan.
His call to Sweden is that minks be killed.
– You have to kill all the minks immediately and kill them, this is not the right time to take risks.
“Follow the situation”
Karl Ståhl, a acting state epizootologist at the Swedish Veterinary Institute, believes there is nothing to say that it should also happen in Sweden.
– This has been going on since June in Denmark and there are so many more minks in Denmark. We have 600,000 and in Denmark there are 20,000,000 The conditions are completely different, he says.
– But we follow the situation and take a position if you find it.
Is there any information on whether the mutation is more dangerous or spreads more easily?
– What the Danish embassy reports is that the virus was found in twelve people in Denmark. There is no evidence that it spreads more easily or is a way that makes us sick or more dangerous.
– The only thing we have seen is a mutation in the protein, on the surface of the virus, and then it is feared that it could eliminate the effect of a future vaccine.
There has been talk of bats and now it is decreasing: what are the risks of other animals being affected and spreading the infection?
– Research has shown that certain animal species are susceptible, not least cats.
– But minks are special because they are kept in large groups. They get extremely responsive with 10,000 in a small area, it’s like 10,000 people together on a soccer field.
So, for example, cat owners don’t have to worry?
– No.
How do animals get corona infection?
– Many do not show symptoms as you see and a small proportion get sick and die, the majority manage.
Karl Ståhl sums up:
– It is important to note that it is people who have infected the mink, it is human to minkara and, in some cases, they have reinfected a mutated form.
“Worries”
Eva Melander, a PhD in Infection Control in the Skåne Region, has no further information on the mutated virus.
– We follow developments in Denmark through contact with the Swedish Public Health Agency and through the National Serum Institute and the European Institute for Infectious Disease Control (ECDC), respectively, he says.
Regional Board President Carl Johan Sonesson assumes more information will be forthcoming.
– When I read about it in the media, I worry about Sweden, he says.
– However, I have not received more information than I received through the media and since it is a potentially national issue, I assume that we will soon receive more information on the issue at the national level.
Fear of a new infection in Denmark: “Lose immunity”
The mutated version of the coronavirus spreads in Denmark.
