Denmark Destroys Millions of Mink To Prevent Coronavirus Outbreak

The world’s biggest producer of mink fur, Denmark, announced a mutation of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was detected at 207 mink farms and had spread to local residents.

Twelve people are currently registered as infected with a mutated form of the new coronavirus in Denmark, according to news wire Ritzau.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen added during a press conference on November 4, 2020: “The mutated coronavirus could thereby have serious negative consequences for the whole world’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” reported the Local.

In response, the Danish government confirmed, up to 17 million minks would need to be culled from local herds.

In connection with this announcement, chairman of the farmers in Agriculture & Food, Søren Søndergaard stated: ‘There is not a single farmer who does not care about both public health and human safety. But I would like to remind you that what is happening right now is that the government is de facto suffocating an industry and taking the livelihood away from thousands of Danes.’

‘We expect that there is a watertight professional basis behind such a drastic decision, and we expect that at the top of the government's agenda is the word replacement with capital, bold letters. It's not just about the animals, but about the buildings, the machines, and the rest of the value chain.’

Denmark’s police chief Thorkild Fogde said they would start the culling as “soon as possible,” but conceded that it was “a very large undertaking”.

Danish health authorities have also concluded ‘that the mutated coronavirus has not inhibited by antibodies to the same degree as the normal virus.’

Many people around the world commonly get infected with human coronaviruses 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1, which often cause the ‘common-cold’ say the U.S. CDC.

There are four main sub-groupings of coronaviruses, known as alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. Both the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), are betacoronavirus and have their origins in bats. 

Both MERS (ongoing) and SARS (2004) have been known to cause severe illness in humans.

Separately, the Local reported on November 4, 2020, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has been tested for coronavirus and is currently in isolation. This is a developing story.

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