The Covid-19 is more than ever present in our life. While France and Belgium have chosen containment as a solution to limit the spread of the disease, Denmark has chosen to slaughter its farm minks. The decision was made after 12 people caught a new SARS-CoV-2 mutation.
A mutation that threatens the effectiveness of future vaccines against Covid-19
Denmark will slaughter all fifteen to seventeen million mink raised in its territory because of a mutation of SARS-CoV-2 which has already been transmitted to 12 people. According to the explanations of the Danish authorities, this mutation does not cause more serious symptoms of the disease in humans, but consequently reduces the effectiveness of human antibodies. However, such an effect threatens the development of a vaccine against Covid-19. ” Virus mutated via mink may create risk that future vaccine will not work as it should », Declared the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, during a press conference.
Kare Molbak, director of Serum State Institute – the government branch of public health and infectious diseases – added that the mutated virus ” does not react as much to antibodies as the normal virus. Antibodies still have an effect, but not as effective. The Danish government reported this discovery to the World Health Organization. Regardless, the WHO has not commented on the country’s decision to kill all of its mink. The organization just explained that investigations are currently underway to find out more about this mutation of the virus, reported on New York Times.
A decision taken for the general interest
It is to know that Denmark is the largest producer of mink fur in the world. The country has between 15 and 17 million mink distributed in approximately 1,500 farms. Killing these animals will be a big loss for the breeders, but the government’s decision seems irrevocable. Faced with this, the Danish authorities declared that they “ great sympathy For the breeders affected by this decision. Anyway, it was explained that the general interest should come first, and that the breeders and other professionals directly affected by this decision will receive compensation.
Thus, this decision was taken to protect not only those who are at risk of falling seriously ill from the mutated virus, but also for the good of Denmark and the whole world, the Danish government explained. ” We have a great responsibility to our own people, but with the mutation that has now been discovered, we have an even greater responsibility to the rest of the world. “, said Mette Frederiksen. It should be remembered that this is not the first time during the Covid-19 pandemic that a country has decided to slaughter mink in large numbers. After detecting the first cases of Covid-19 in mink in Spain, nearly 100,000 animals were slaughtered last July.
This time around, the toll will be even heavier for rodents, and the Danish authorities have already slaughtered more than a million animals. To speed up the slaughter process, Denmark even decided to mobilize the police, the army and the national guard, reported Reuters. In addition to this difficult mink decision, Denmark has also tightened its containment restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus.