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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNBCNEWS:Denmark plans to cull 15 million minks after coronavirus mutation spreads to humans
Denmark plans to cull 15 million minks after coronavirus mutation spreads to humans
The country's prime minister said the mutated virus, found on mink farms, "may pose a risk to the effectiveness of a future vaccine."
Nov. 4, 2020, 4:20 PM EST
By Minyvonne Burke and Reuters
Denmark plans to cull its entire population of roughly 15 million minks in farms after the animals spread a mutation of the coronavirus to humans.
The country's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said at a press conference Wednesday that the mutated virus could spread to other countries and it "may pose a risk to the effectiveness of a future vaccine."
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, she said.
Read more @ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1246445
panader0
(25,816 posts)doc03
(35,143 posts)XanaDUer2
(10,327 posts)nt
Worried2020
(444 posts).
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From the OP link:
/snip/
"In the United States, nearly 10,000 minks at nine fur farms in Utah died of Covid-19, state veterinarian Dean Taylor told NBC News last month.
The deaths forced the affected farms to quarantine as the outbreaks were investigated.
Taylor said that the virus predominantly targeted older minks, wiping out 50 percent of the breeding colonies," and left the younger ones relatively unscathed. The virus was detected in the animals in August after ranch workers tested positive for the coronavirus.
/snip/
Minks join a list of more than 50 animals in the U.S. that have contracted Covid-19. According to the Department of Agriculture, the virus has also been detected in cats, dogs, tigers and lions.
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Does not bode well for an early end/solution to this bug . . .
(sigh)
W
leftyladyfrommo
(18,815 posts)Mink farm every day on my way to and from HS. It's big business there.
treestar
(82,383 posts)It was said dogs could not spread it to humans. Minks can? That makes me wonder if they are right about other animals.
Larissa
(786 posts)From BGR - link below: The (Danish) government announced that 12 people got the new coronavirus strain from the mink population. The patients had an impaired reaction to antibodies, indicating that existing vaccines might not work. This is extremely serious, and a threat to the entire world, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said about the novel coronavirus strain.
This might be the worst development of the pandemic so far
https://bgr.com/2020/11/04/coronavirus-mink-mutation-denmark/
Mink mutation has already occurred in the U.S. In that case from humans to minks. Or was it from humans to minks and then from minks back to humans? The specter of animal infection by the coronavirus is pretty horrifying because it's another entire species, in and around us, to be concerned about. Michael Crichton could not have done better than this real life science horror.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/09/us/mink-covid-outbreak-trnd/index.html
NatGeo: Seven More Big Cats test Positive for Coronavirus at Bronx Zoo
Following a National Geographic inquiry, the zoo confirms that four more tigers and three lions have the virus. This comes the same day as two pet cats in New York become the first in the U.S. to test positive.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/04/tiger-coronavirus-covid19-positive-test-bronx-zoo/