generalspeaking

Slaughtering Mink

Mink breeder Thorbjoern Jepsen holds up a mink, as police forcibly gained access to his mink farm in Gjoel, Denmark on Oct. 9. The Danish government said Wednesday it wants to cull its herd of minks after a report showed a mutation in the virus found in some people who became infected by the animals. (Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix/Associated Press)

"[Transmission of the mutated virus strain between animals and humans is] a concern. Mutations [in viruses] are normal. These type of changes in the virus are something we have been tracking since the beginning."

"We are working with regional offices ... where there are mink farms, and looking at biosecurity and to prevent spillover events."

"[Denmark’s decision to cull its mink was aimed at preventing the establishment of] a new animal reservoir for this virus."

Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead for COVID-19,World Health Organization

 

"We need to wait and see what the implications are but I don’t think we should come to any conclusions about whether this particular mutation is going to impact vaccine efficacy."

"We don’t have any evidence at the moment that it would." 

Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist, World Health Organization

 

"There’s always the potential that this can come back to humans. That is a concern because mammal species like mink are very good hosts and the virus can evolve within those species, especially if they are in large numbers packed closely together."

"[Other farm animals, such as pigs and poultry, have] very strict [biosecurity in place to prevent viruses jumping the species barrier]."

Mike Ryan, emergencies expert, World Health Organization

 

"Of course, we must not be the cause of a new pandemic. We do not know the professional basis for this assessment and risk ... but the government's decision is a disaster for the industry and Denmark."

Tage Pederson, chairman, Danish Breeders Association 

Mink farmers protest in Holstebro in Jutland, Denmark, Friday Nov. 6, 2020. More than a quarter million Danes went into lockdown Friday in a northern region of the country where a mutated variation of the coronavirus has infected minks being farmed for their fur, leading to an order to kill millions of the animals. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the move was contain the virus, and it came two days after the government ordered the cull of all 15 million minks bred at Denmark’s 1,139 mink farms. (Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

 

Who might even have imagined that Denmark has a thriving mink industry to supply the world with mink fur? All the more so at a time of growing sensitivity to culling animals for their fur for human clothing when industrial fabrics are able to mimic the warmth factor that animal fur represents? Now, a recent finding that mink held in breeding pens have contracted a mutated strain of the novel coronavirus amidst fears that this virus may spread and compromise the usefulness of a vaccine, has caused the Danish government to mandate an entire cull of all mink in the country, some 15 million in total.

 

Just as humans living in close proximity to one another become susceptible to contagious disease transmission, so too are mink in close confinement alongside one another similarly susceptible and the little creatures have become victims of a coronavirus strain. The fear is that they became infected through initial contact with a person or persons infected with COVID-19, and in turn themselves infected other workers, a situation that could readily become uncontrollable, mandating their entire cull as a preventive measure.

 

Authorities fear that the mutated version of the virus could become a more resistant threat against future vaccines. Now restrictions have been imposed on movement across county lines affecting seven municipalities in northern Denmark, where restaurants and bars are to be shuttered, according to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Schools are also to be closed -- with all public transport shut down until December 3. Local inhabitants are encouraged to remain within their municipal boundaries and to get tested for the virus.

 

In this photo, minks in a farm in Gjoel in North Jutland, Denmark. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

Denmark's mink pelt industry exports to the tune of $800 million annually, employing four thousand people, considered a fairly important industry for the small country. The proposed cull would surely result in a death knell for the outdated industry in a world where animal welfare concerns are becoming more mainstream and people increasingly reject the concept of wearing furs for their ornamental and practical uses. Denmark represents the largest producer and exporter of mink furs in Europe. 

And oddly enough, it was a campaign launched first by Scandinavian countries, then taken up enthusiastically by the European Union, that gave a black eye to Canada's annual whitecoat seal hunt, and ultimately ended it. The annual hunt for adult seals by indigenous Inuit who traditionally hunt seals in season, to supplement their diets and who make use of every part of the animal in recognition of a culture and heritage in which this formed a way of life, is still realizing pressure from animal welfare groups.

Experts found agreement with Denmark's strategy to respond to the situation, according to state epidemiologist Kare Molbak, attending a meeting with the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. In Poland, another major mink pelt producer, no coronavirus has been detected. In neighbouring Sweden restrictions were imposed on mink farms after finding infections, but Sweden's infections are not reflective of the mutation discovered in Denmark.

(Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

According to Denmark's State Serum Institute, tests showed the new strain had mutations on its spike protein, representing a part of the virus that invades and infects healthy human cells, posing a potential risk to future COVID-19 vaccines, based on disabling the spike protein. "The danger is that the mutated virus could then spread back into man and evade any vaccine response which would have been designed to the original, non-mutated version of the spike protein", explained Ian Jones, a virology professor at University of Reading in Britain, of the five cases of the new virus strain recorded on mink farms and 12 cases for humans.

"[This represents a good solution, for] such an essential and science-based step to protect Danish citizens [has been decided in a total cull; there is hope that losing so many mink to the coronavirus causes fur farms to get out of the business]."

"Although the death of millions of mink — whether culled for COVID-19 or killed for fur —  is an animal welfare tragedy, fur farmers will now have a clear opportunity to pivot away from this cruel and dying industry and choose a more humane and sustainable livelihood instead."

Joanna Swabe, spokesperson, Humane Society International-Europe 

 

Labels: Coronavirus Mutations, Denmark, Infections, Mink Farms, Poland, Sweden, Vulnerable Animals

posted by Pieface @ Saturday, November 07, 2020