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Last week, Denmark announced plans to slaughter all farmed mink, some 17 million, over fears that a mutated version of the coronavirus could decrease the effectiveness of potential vaccines.
The decision has since been put on hold due to legal authority issues. As the government seeks new legislation, mink slaughter on infected farms continues, as does dismay in other countries and debate among scientists over the validity of the concerns.
Six countries – Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy and the United States – have reported cases of farmed mink infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid -19. Mink catch the virus from humans and spread to each other. Unlike dogs, cats, and some other animals, which only express mild symptoms, if they do, mink can get sick and die from an infection.
Here are the answers to basic questions about mink and coronavirus:
Can mink infect people with coronavirus?
Yes. In Denmark, minks contracted the virus and spread it to humans. The same happened in the Netherlands this year.
Does the virus mutate in mink?
Yes. In more than 200 people, Danish authorities have documented several variants of the virus containing mutations from mink. The virus also mutates in humans.
Is the mutated virus more dangerous?
No. There is no evidence that any of the mutations from mink make the coronavirus more transmissible in humans or make humans sicker.
Why did Denmark decide to kill all of its farmed mink?
Danish health officials feared that a set of mutations in a variant of the virus called cluster 5, which had infected at least 12 people, could make a potential vaccine against the coronavirus less effective.
One of the mutations occurs in part of the virus – the spike protein – which is targeted by many potential vaccines. In laboratory studies, cells with this variant of the virus have been exposed to antibodies, which did not act as strongly as with other variants of the coronavirus.
But it was a very preliminary test. The reaction to antibodies in laboratory cells does not necessarily indicate that the mutated virus is resistant to vaccines; it simply raises that possibility.
Will mutations decrease the value of vaccines?
The World Health Organization and independent experts have said there is so far no evidence that the Group 5 variant will decrease the value of vaccines currently in development.
Has Denmark overreacted?
Scientists say there are reasons beyond this particular mutated virus for Denmark to take action. Mink farms have been shown to be reservoirs for the coronavirus and mink are able to transmit the virus to humans. They are the only known animal to do so.
This set of mutations may not be harmful to humans, but the virus will undoubtedly continue to mutate in mink as it does in humans, and overcrowded conditions on mink farms could exert evolutionary pressures on the virus different from those of the human population. The virus could also pass from mink to other animals. These are all worrying possibilities, especially amid a resurgence of the virus in the human population.
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