Denmark to kill minks to contain spread of coronavirus.

Denmark has decided to kill all the minks in the country in order to contain the spread of mutated coronavirus to humans. There are around 15 million of minks in Denmark. This decision was made public by the Denmark’s President Mette Frederiksen on November 4, 2020.

Highlights

As per the statement of Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke, genomic analysis revealed that almost 400 human COVID-19 infection cases in northern Denmark were related to mink farms. The cases almost amounts to half of total cases in the country. Statens Serum Institute of Denmark also highlighted in its report that around 5 percent of all human infections involve the new mutated variation of the virus.

Concern

The new mutated variation of the virus has been observed in Denmark. It has emerged a cause of concern because 12 infected people showed less ability to produce antibodies. This might reduce the potential effectiveness of a vaccine among the people.

Impact

In Denmark, there are around 15 million minks. Minks in about 207 farm out of 1,000 farms have tested positive for the coronavirus. These 1000 farms produces around  40 percent of the world’s mink pelts. Further, Denmark is one of the largest producers of fur in the world. Majority of the fur is exported to China and Hong Kong. Thus, this cycle would highly be impacted with the decision of killing Minks. Though the Denmark government have planed to compensate the mink farmers. But, lost lives can not be compensated and it might be difficult for the industry to survive.