Denmark plans to cull its mink population after coronavirus mutation spreads to humans

Denmark will cull its mink population of up to 17 million after a mutation of the coronavirus found in the animals spread to humans, the prime minister said on Wednesday. Health authorities found virus strains in humans and in mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies, potentially lowering the efficacy of future vaccines, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.

Denmark will cull its mink population of up to 17 million after a mutation of the coronavirus found in the animals spread to humans, the prime minister said on Wednesday.

Health authorities found virus strains in humans and in mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies, potentially lowering the efficacy of future vaccines, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. "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," Frederiksen told a news conference.

The findings, which have been shared with the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, were based on laboratory tests by the State Serum Institute, the Danish authority dealing with infectious diseases. The head of the WHO's emergencies program, Mike Ryan, called on Friday for full-scale scientific investigations of the complex issue of humans - outside China - infecting mink which in turn transmitted the virus back to humans.

"We have been informed by Denmark of a number of persons infected with coronavirus from mink, with some genetic changes in the virus," WHO said in a statement emailed to Reuters in Geneva. "The Danish authorities are investigating the epidemiological and virological significance of these findings." Authorities in Denmark said five cases of the new virus strain had been recorded on mink farms and 12 cases in humans, and that there were 15 million and 17 million mink in the country.

Outbreaks at mink farms have persisted in the Nordic country, the world's largest producer of mink furs, despite repeated efforts to cull infected animals since June. Denmark's police, army, and home guard will be deployed to speed up the culling process, Frederiksen said.

Tougher lockdown restrictions and intensified tracing efforts will be implemented to contain the virus in some areas of Northern Denmark, home to a large number of mink farms, authorities said. "The worst-case scenario is a new pandemic, starting all over again out of Denmark," director at the State Serum Institute, Kare Molbak, said.

Minks have also been culled in the Netherlands and Spain after infections were discovered.