COPENHAGEN (DENMARK) – In the wake of a coronavirus mutant found in animals spreading to humans, Denmark has decided to cull its population of 17 million mink, said the prime minister.
Danish health authorities have found virus strains in both humans as well as mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies, thus lowering the efficacy of a future vaccine, said Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
“We have a great responsibility towards our own population, but with the mutation that has now been found, we have an even greater responsibility for the rest of the world as well,” Frederiksen said in a media briefing.
The findings have been shared with the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. They were based on lab tests conducted by the State Serum Institute, dealing with infectious diseases.
The head of the WHO’s emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, called on Friday for full-fledged scientific probe into the complex issue of humans – outside China – infecting mink which in turn transmitted the virus back to humans.
“We have been informed by Denmark of a number of persons infected with coronavirus from mink, with some genetic changes in the virus,” WHO said in a statement. “The Danish authorities are investigating the epidemiological and virological significance of these findings.”
According to Danish authorities, five cases of the new mutated virus have been recorded on mink farms as well as 12 cases in humans. There are between 15 million and 17 million mink in the country.
Denmark is the world’s largest producer of mink furs and there have been outbreaks at mink farms.
The prime minister said the help of the police, home guard and army would be sought to expedite the culling process.
Christian Sonne, professor of Veterinary and Wildlife Medicine at Aarhus University, said culling mink as a preventive measure was a good decision and could prevent a future outbreak in the country, which would be difficult to control.
“China, Denmark, and Poland should support and extend the immediate and complete ban of mink production,” Sonne and his co-authors wrote last week.
In areas where there are a large number of mink farms, tougher curbs and intensified tracing will be conducted.
“The worst case scenario is a new pandemic, starting all over again out of Denmark,” said Kare Molbak, director at the State Serum Institute.
Minks have also been culled in the Netherlands and Spain after infections were discovered.