Massacre of farmed mink in Denmark. These too are victims of the Coronavirus. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen ordered the suppression of 15 to 17 million specimens of these fur animals. They would be carriers of variants of the Coronavirus, mutated in animals and then transmitted to humans. One of these variants could make the function of antibodies ineffective and therefore thwart the possibility of being protected by a future vaccine. From June to today, over two hundred people have been infected and not all of them were necessarily close to infected farms. Twelve in particular would have been affected by the more resistant variant of the virus, largely in the North Jutland region where 216 farms are involved. 1100 farms present on the national territory, Denmark is the largest European producer and exporter of mink fur. The second in the world after China.
Minks, more than 1100 intensive farms in Denmark
A drastic and very heavy decision that of the Danish premier which, as reported by the Ansa agency, would have been taken on the basis of a study by the government agency 'Staten Serum Institut'. To try to stop the spread of the virus, the Danish government has decided a lockdown for the whole area concerned which is located in the north-west of Denmark.
In the first instance, the killing was to affect only a part of the contaminated mink but the results of further analyzes led to this extreme decision. In Denmark, the fur sector has a strong impact on the country's economy. About four thousand Danes are employed there. The economic damage could be around 700 million euros.
WHO: Italy is also among the six countries with cases of contagion on farms
THEWorld Health Organization did it know that, in addition to Denmark, there are five other countries, including Italy, to have reported cases of Covid 19 in mink farms. The others would be the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United States. WHO is following the overall situation closely and is in constant contact with the Danish authorities. In the meantime, just to avoid the spread of the infection, the BBC has reported that entry into Great Britain has been banned for anyone coming from Denmark. British citizens are excluded but will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine. Only goods and hauliers are currently exempt from the restrictions.
In Italy, after the decision of the Danish government to cull all farmed mink, the Low (Antivivsection league) by throwing a appeal to the Italian government to decide to close all fur farms in our national territory. Intensive farms that are mainly found in Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Abruzzo are under accusation.
“Once again - reads a press release - gruesome news arrives from Denmark on the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus introduced by humans (infected operators) in intensive farms. Minks are animals that are particularly sensitive to this infection. The virus was thus able to replicate itself, undergoing important mutations ". Lav appeals to the Government and the experts of the Technical Scientific Committee "to finally decide to definitively ban the breeding of mink and animals for the production of furs in Italy".
