Minks are seen at Hans Henrik Jeppesen's farm near Soroe, after government's decision to cull his entire herd due to coronavirus disease , Denmark, on Nov 5, 2020. COPENHAGEN: Denmark announced strict new lockdown rules on Thursday in the north of the country after authorities discovered a mutated coronavirus strain in minks bred in the region, prompting a nationwide cull that will devastate the large pelt industry.
"Of course, we must not be the cause of a new pandemic. We do not know the professional basis for this assessment and risk ... but the government's decision is a disaster for the industry and Denmark," chairman Tage Pedersen said.At his family-owned mink farm west of the capital Copenhagen, 34-year-old Hans Henrik Jeppesen said he was devastated by the decision.
"Although not a ban on fur farming, this move signals the end of suffering for millions of animals confined to small wire cages on Danish fur farms," said Joanna Swabe of Humane Society International. While no coronavirus has been detected on mink farms in Poland, another major mink pelt producer, authorities in Sweden on Thursday imposed restrictions on mink farms after infections were found.In a report published on Wednesday, the State Serum Institute , the authority dealing with infectious diseases, said laboratory tests showed the new strain had mutations on its so-called spike protein, a part of the virus that invades and infects healthy cells.
"It must adapt to be able to use mink receptors to enter cells and so will modify the spike protein to enable this to happen efficiently," he explained.