Denmark to kill 17 million mink linked to possible COVID-19 mutation
London: Denmark will cull 17 million mink over fears the ferret-like animals are passing on a mutated strain of coronavirus to humans.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced the drastic move on Wednesday as the death toll from Europe's second wave climbed sharply in some hard-hit countries.
Frederiksen - who is self-isolating after a close contact recently tested positive - said authorities had detected virus strains in humans and mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies.
Denmark will cull its population of 17 million mink amid transmission fears.Credit:EPA
She ordered the national cull with a "heavy heart" but said mutations in the animals were a threat to the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines in development around the globe.
"The mutated virus - via mink - can carry the risk that the upcoming vaccine will not work as it should," Frederiksen said in a press conference.
"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."
There are nearly 1200 mink farms in Denmark.Credit:AP
Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said around half of 783 infected Danes in northern Denmark, home to a large number of mink farms, had been infected with a virus strain stemming from the farms.
Heunicke said the mutated virus had been detected in 12 humans and on five mink farms.
Thee are between 15 million and 17 million mink in Denmark - the world's largest producer of mink fur. They are bred on nearly 1200 farms. The government has promised compensation to farmers.
Denmark has shared its findings with the World Health Organisation, which is investigating whether animals can transmit the disease to humans.
A targeted cull has been underway at some farms since July but the police, army and national guard will be deployed over the coming days to cull the entire population quickly. They have also been culled in some other countries, including the Netherlands and Spain.
However, Francois Balloux, the director of the University College London Genetics Institute and a professor of computational systems biology, cast doubt over the impact of the development on humans on Wednesday night.
"There are thousands of mutations in SARS-CoV-2 arising constantly," he said on Twitter." The fact that a few have been observed in minks will not change the strains in circulation in humans. If they were beneficial for the virus to infect its human host, they would be at high frequency already."
In Britain, a new month-long national lockdown came into force in England on Thursday night amid warnings a steadily rising rate of infections and hospitalisations threaten to overrun the National Health Service.
The United Kingdom recorded a further 492 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the death toll over the past fortnight to 3584.
The lockdown passed the House of Commons on Wednesday but some 55 Conservative Party MPs opposed it or abstained from it.
"None of us came into politics to tell people once again to shutter their shops, to furlough their staff or stay away from their friends and family," Johnson told Parliament.
Deaths also rose by 394 in France, 352 in Italy and 1623 in Spain after the government there revised its count.
With Reuters
Bevan Shields is the Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.