Denmark plans to kill an estimated 17 million mink after finding a mutated coronavirus in the animal, upon a receiving the firm recommendation from health officials, according to CNN.
“The virus has mutated in mink. The mutated virus has spread to humans,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said with a “heavy heart” about the decision, according to CNN.
Statens Serum Institut handles infectious diseases and has recently found five cases on mink farms, CNN reports. In relation, there are also 12 Covid-19 cases of humans with “reduced sensitivity to antibodies,” according to the prime minister via CNN.
Hence, the decision to cull mink was not made lightly. Denmark reportedly has been trying to cull infected mink since June, but has found it hard to contain infections in the animal.
The country is home to 15 million to 17 million mink. With the lack of control of the mutated virus in mink and its ability to spread to humans, Denmark’s police force will cull millions more mink around the country to avoid further spread. This comes after one million mink were killed in October.
“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 added.
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