Polish scientists have identifies the first cases of coronavirus in mink at a farm in the north of the country.
The Medical University of Gdansk said that eight animals were found to be infected at a breeding farm in the Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Poland, a major producer of mink fur, started coronavirus tests among its farmed mink and workers this month after a mutation of the virus was found in Denmark.
Veterinary and sanitary authorities in Poland said last week that 18 coronavirus cases had been identifies among mink farmworkers since the start of the pandemic, but it was unlikely that to have been spread by the animals.
“The obtained results indicate the possibility of transmission of the virus from humans to minks,” the Medical University of Gdansk said in a statement.
Poland is the world’s third-largest fur producer after China and Denmark, according to animal rights groups that are campaigning for an end to breeding animals like mink for fur.
Hungary Bans Fur Farming Of Minks, Foxes And Ferrets Due To ‘Public Health Concerns’ Amid COIVD-19
The announcement follows a slew of COVID-19 outbreaks on mink fur farms across the globe
Hungary has announced a ban on mink fur farming due to ‘public health concerns of zoonotic diseases’.
The ban also includes the farming of foxes, polecats/ferrets, and coypu. However, it does not include chinchilla.
The news follows COVID-19 outbreaks on slew of mink fur farms across the globe. Reports now suggest the COVID-19 variant found on a Danish mink fur farm could spark a new coronavirus pandemic.
‘A good outcome for human health’
Dr. Joanna Swabe is the senior director of public affairs for Humane Society International/Europe.
In a statement sent to Plant Based News she ‘applaued’ the Hungarian government for enacting the ban.
Swabe said: “Although these species are not currently farmed for fur in the country… This ban is more than just symbol politics. There’s a very real and present danger that fur farmers from elsewhere in Europe may attempt to move their operations to Hungary.
“This is a precautionary measure that shuts the door to that happening. [It] is a good outcome for human health and animal welfare.”
‘Make fur farming history’
Moreover, Swabe points out the ban ‘fails’ to include chinchila, who ‘could also be susceptible to viruses’.
She added: “As long as the animal exploitation of fur farming is tolerated, the potential for reservoirs of animal to human pathogens will persist….
“HSI hopes that the Hungarian government will also consider strengthening its ban by shutting down the country’s chinchilla fur farms too, and make fur farming history in Hungary.”
Europe’s fur industry is back in the spotlight after Denmark’s mass culling of millions of mink following an outbreak of coronavirus at farms in the country.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that all mink would be slaughtered. Denmark is the world’s biggest mink producer, farming up to 17 million of the animals, and Covid has swept through a quarter of its 1,000 mink farms.
Officials say this “reservoir” of disease poses a significant health risk for humans, and worry that mutations detected in mink-related strains of the virus might compromise a future vaccine.
But images of mink mass graves and farmers in tears were followed by outcry after the government admitted its order had no legal basis. The agriculture minister has since resigned. On Saturday hundreds of tractors drove into central Copenhagen to protest about the handling of the crisis. There have also been protests in the cities of Aalborg and Aarhus.
The proposed ban on mink farming until 2022 now has parliamentary backing but negotiations over compensation are dragging out.
Authorities say all 288 infected herds have been killed and they have put down approximately 10 million animals. It is believed the majority of remaining mink on farms where no infection was detected have also been killed. In a short while, Denmark’s fur industry has almost been wiped out. Around 6,000 jobs are at risk.
“It is a de facto permanent closure and liquidation of the fur industry,” said Danish Mink Breeders Association chairman Tage Pedersen in a statement. “This affects not only the mink breeders, but entire communities.”
Mink farmer Per Thyrrestrup doubts business will ever come back: “To have the same quality of the skins, to have the same colour – it’s going to be 15 to 20 years before that’s possible.”
The world’s largest fur auction house, Kopenhagen Fur, has also announced a “controlled shutdown” over two to three years until this season’s pelts and older stockpiles are sold.
Thousands of buyers, mostly from China, once flocked to auctions held in the Danish capital. It has been a giant in the business, trading 25 million Danish and foreign furs last year.
But even before the pandemic struck, there were signs it was struggling.
A decade ago trade boomed, fuelled by an appetite for luxury goods as Chinese incomes grew. In 2013, Kopenhagen Fur sold about $2bn (£1.5bn) of furs, with global mink production worth $4.3bn.
Mink pelts then cost over $90 (£69) each, but the bubble burst and last year skins fetched only a third of that. Local farmers have struggled to make money – and it is a pattern seen elsewhere. China is by far the biggest fur importer, but it is a major producer too.
Else Skjold, head of fashion at the Royal Danish Academy, says this competition has driven prices down: “A lot of new farmers went into the market and so there was simply an overflow of fur.”
There’s also significant fur farming across Europe. In 2018 there were 4,350 fur farms in 24 European countries, says industry group Fur Europe. Poland, the Netherlands, Finland, Lithuania and Greece are the biggest producers after Denmark – though the US, Canada and Russia also operate farms.
Since the cull began prices have shot up. “People were concerned that there might be a shortage,” says Mark Oaten, chief executive of the International Fur Federation (IFF). Denmark accounts for at least a quarter of the global mink trade.
No mink farmer tested positive to mink-related coronavirus in France so far..
France has ordered the culling of one thousand minks after lab analyses detected a mutated version of the coronavirus in one farm.
All animals at a farm in the Eure-et-Loire region of Western France will be culled and all animal products will be eliminated, the French government said in a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture.
French authorities have been testing four mink farms since mid-November after a mutated coronavirus strain that threatened to make future vaccines less effective was found in mink farms in Denmark.
Tests found no trace of mutated strains of the virus in one of the four mink farms.
Analyses are still underway in the other two farms, and results are expected by the end of the week. If they come back positive, the French government says it will order the culling of all minks on the farms.
So far, all French farmers in contact with minks have tested negative to the coronavirus, the French government said. Preventive measures remain in place in all the farms.
Several mutated strains of the coronavirus have circulated since the beginning of the pandemic.
But the discovery of one strain, which Danish scientists called “cluster five”, in mink farms in Denmark alarmed many public health experts worldwide because it appeared to be less sensitive to antibodies developed by people who had already had Covid-19.
The Danish government decided to cull its entire mink population – between 15 and 17 million – after scientists found that 12 people had been infected with the mutated strain. They said the strain posed “a major risk to public health”.
Coronavirus cases in mink have since also been reported elsewhere in Europe, notably in Sweden, Greece and the Netherlands.
The Danish health ministry said on Thursday that the mutated strain had “most likely become extinct” after it detected no new cases after 15 September. about:blank about:blank javascript:void(0) javascript:void(0)
Coronavirus pandemic in France: Authorities cull minks after finding virus at farm – France 24
French authorities ordered the culling of all minks in a farm after analysis showed a mutated version of the coronavirus was circulating among the animals. The French government said in a statement Sunday that about 1,000 minks have been culled and all animal products have been eliminated in the farm located west of Paris.
Workers at the Naestved mink farm, in Denmark, ran by Henrik Nordgaard Hansen and Ann-Mona Kulsoe Larsen, transport dead mink into a separate facility to be skinnedPictured above are dead mink in Denmark culled in response to the virus
Staying on the disgusting issue of the fur trade:
Images all relate to the Danish murder of Mink.
Regards Mark
Now France slaughters its mink: Up to 1,000 animals are culled at farm in western France after Covid positive test after cases in Denmark, Sweden, Greece and the Netherlands
Mink infected with coronavirus been found in France and are set to be culled
One thousand mink will be slaughtered after tests identified the virus at a farm
Officials locked down swathes of northern Denmark where variant originated.
Mink infected with coronavirus have been found in France and are set to be culled after the virus was detected at a farm in the western part of the country.
One thousand mink will be slaughtered after tests identified the virus at a farm in the Eure-et-Loire region of western France after the country started testing its four mink farms in mid-November.
It comes after officials locked down swathes of northern Denmark where a new Covid-19 variant originated and ordered the culling of 17million mink earlier this month in a bid to stomp out the strain before it became widespread.
Cases in mink have also been reported elsewhere in Europe, notably in Sweden, Greece and the Netherlands.
A French Ministry spokesman said: ‘At this stage, tests have shown the virus circulating in an Eure-et-Loire farm.
Danish officials ordered the culling of 17million mink earlier this month in a bid to stomp out the strain before it become widespread
‘A second farm is unscathed. Tests are still under way in the last two farms, with results expected during the week.’
The new Covid-19 variant — called Cluster 5 — caused global panic after it was found to be resistant to antibodies, substances made by the body to fight off infections.
It was feared Cluster 5 would be able to slip past promising new Covid-19 vaccines, which work by stimulating an antibody response.
Officials locked down swathes of northern Denmark where the strain originated and ordered the culling of 17million mink earlier this month in a bid to stomp out the variant before it became widespread.
In a statement today, the country’s health ministry said there had been ‘no new cases of Cluster 5 since September 15’ which led it to conclude it ‘has most likely been eradicated’.
Scientists believe the mutant virus jumped from fur farm workers to mink in the summer before it was passed back to humans. As it crossed between species, a mutation occurred on its ‘spike’ protein, which it uses to enter human cells. It was significant because the leading vaccine candidates work by targeting this protein.
When news about the new strain broke earlier this month, Britain banned non-British citizens returning from Denmark and introduced strict quarantine rules for any Brit who’d recently returned from the country.
At the time, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned the mutated could have ‘grave consequences’ if it became widespread.
The Danish health ministry said in a statement on Thursday : ‘There have been no new cases of the Cluster 5 mink mutation since September 15, which has led to the Danish infectious disease authority SSI to conclude that this variant has most likely been eradicated.’
The Government said most of the strict lockdown rules imposed on November 5 on seven municipalities in North Jutland would be lifted on Friday. They had originally been due to stay in place until December 3.
Cluster 5 has only been found in 13 people living in the region, which is home to 280,000 people.
All minks in the seven municipalities have been culled, totalling 10.2 million, and the slaughter is still ongoing in other parts of the country.
With three times more minks than people, the Scandinavian country is the world’s biggest exporter, selling pelts for around £596million ($792m) annually, and the second-biggest producer behind China.
Farmers living in regions of Denmark not affected by the mutated strain of Covid-19 are still allowed to sell mink fur — but must still kill all their livestock this month.
Five different strains of mutant mink coronavirus have been spotted in 214 people in Denmark since June.
Analysis by Denmark’s State Serum Institute revealed only Cluster 5 was less sensitive to antibodies.
Antibodies are disease-fighting proteins made and stored by the immune system to fight off invaders in the future by latching onto their spike proteins.
But if they are unable to recognise proteins because they have mutated, it means the body may struggle to attack a virus the second time and lead to a second infection.
It raised fears the new strain could be harder to treat or vaccinate against.
It is not uncommon for viruses to be able to jump between humans and other animals – which was also the case for H5N1, or bird flu, and H1N1, swine flu.
The sole purpose of any virus is to replicate as many times as possible. So when a virus jumps from one species to another it naturally mutates to adapt to a new host.
With Covid-19, tiny changes in its DNA occurred when it was passed to mink. It means that when the virus was passed back to humans its biology was different, so it may behave differently to other strains while inside humans.
It’s not just mink: Foxes and raccoon dogs on fur farms ‘may infect humans with coronaviruses’, scientists warn
Exclusive: The whole industry has the potential to act as a virus factory, say animal-welfare activists
Other animals reared for their fur – such as foxes and raccoon dogs – can catch coronaviruses and pass it to humans, scientists have warned, after millions of mink across Europe were culled over fears they could spread Covid-19.
The World Organisation for Animal Health has advised countries to monitor for infection “susceptible animals, such as mink and racoon dogs”, as well as humans in close contact with them.
A scientific paper this summer warned that raccoon dogs “are susceptible to and efficiently transmit” Covid-19 and “may serve as intermediate host” for it – meaning they may transmit Covid-19 to people.
It prompted animal-protection lobbyists to claim “all fur farming has the potential to act as a virus factory”.
A scientific paper in 2004 reported that foxes in a wildlife market in Guanzhou, China, were found to have been infected with Sars-CoV, which causes Sars, another type of coronavirus.
It’s estimated that more than 32 million foxes and raccoon dogs are held in fur farms around the world, their pelts mostly destined for markets in Asia.
An outbreak of coronavirus in mink in Denmark earlier this month prompted the country to begin a cull of all 17 million of the animals on its fur farms. Some were suffering a mutated form of the virus, which infected more than 200 people.
Governments in four other countries – Spain, Greece, the Netherlands and Ireland – have also issued orders or advice to cull their farmed mink populations.
Experts are worried that the new human coronavirus vaccines may not be effective against mutated strains.
The British Fur Trade Association insists that species other than mink, “such as fox and wild fur” are not affected by the virus. It says fur farms worldwide have put in place extensive biosecurity measures after the mink outbreaks.
But the paper by 17 scientists stated that raccoon dogs “were suspected as potential intermediate host for both SARS-CoV6 and SARS-CoV2”. The authors wrote: “Rapid, high-level virus shedding, in combination with minor clinical signs and pathohistological changes… highlight the role of raccoon dogs as a potential intermediate host.
“The results are highly relevant for control strategies and emphasise the risk that raccoon dogs may represent a potential SARS-CoV-2 reservoir.”
Raccoon dogs in a wildlife market in Shenzhen, China, were also found to have been infected with Sars.
Christian Drosten, director the Institute of Virology at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, has even suggested fur-farm raccoon dogs, rather than pangolins, were the source of Covid-19, telling The Guardian earlier this year: “Raccoon dogs are a massive industry in China, where they are bred on farms and caught in the wild for their fur. If somebody gave me a few hundred thousand bucks and free access to China to find the source of the virus, I would look in places where raccoon dogs are bred.”
Most zoonotic diseases in modern times, from the 1918 flu pandemic onwards, have had animal origins, with viruses infecting humans emerging from birds, farmed animals and wild hunted animals.
The stress of being caged literally drives animals mad and also suppresses their immunity, making them especially susceptible to disease, scientists say.
Globally, 94 million animals are farmed for their fur, including 61 million mink, 20.1 million foxes and 12.4 million raccoon dogs, according to figures from Humane Society International, with China the biggest single fur-producing country.
The UK has banned fur farming but still imports of real fur. The value of imports rose from about £55m in 2016 to £70m-£75m in the following two years, but then last year fell back to £55.9m last year, according to HMRC figures.
Raccoon dogs, which originate in Asia and are distant cousins of foxes, are a separate species from raccoons, natives of America.
Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International (HSI) who has visited fur farms, said: “Fox and raccoon dogs who are reared for fur in their millions across Europe, China and north America can also become infected with SARS-CoV-related viruses, and considering the appalling conditions in which these animals are forced to live, it’s little wonder that fur farms have the potential to act like virus factories.
“If we learn anything from the tragic scenes of mink culls, it must be that we cannot continue to exploit and push animals beyond the limit of their endurance, not only causing them immense suffering but also putting human lives at risk, all for a frivolous fur fashion item that nobody needs.”
HSI says the fur trade has been “in freefall” for several years, with average pelt prices at auction houses dropping and growing numbers of financial institutions, including Standard Chartered and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, adopting policies not to invest in the trade.
Ms Bass said the fact that the virus had spread and mutated within stressed mink populations was “another major nail in the coffin” of the fur industry, and accused the UK of being complicit in the cruelty by importing fur.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Fur farming has rightly been banned in this country for nearly 20 years. Once our future relationship with the EU has been established, there will be an opportunity for the government to consider further steps it could take in relation to fur sales.
“We have also co-created the leaders’ pledge for nature, which includes a commitment to working globally to address the links between how we treat our planet and the emergence of infectious diseases.”
The Independent has asked the British Fur Trade Association and the International Fur Federation to comment.
WAV Comment – So it takes something like Covid before ‘experts’ like Dr Holohan, the Chief Medical Officer; decides that something needs to be done. It sounds idiotic to us – if Ireland had banned the industry years ago, then they would not be in the situation they are now – Denmark and all that.
Still they ignore all the advice, thinking they know better; being a ‘Dr’ and all that. Sounds like a fool to us; as he ignored all the evidence and requests for a ban for so long. Karma ! – as the Chief Medical Officer; what is the next trick he is going to pull out of his weary hat ?
As Mark says, terrible that so many animals will die; but their deaths will not be in vain. A very hard lesson to the Danish and Irish governments who think (?) they know best; but have been shown to be fools. If these deaths mean the demise of the Irish fur trade then we welcome that; if only government fools would listen earlier; like years ago !
Ireland’s mink to be culled and not replaced
The Republic of Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer has advised the government to cull the mink on Ireland’s three mink farms, as a precautionary measure. The government is likely to follow this advice.
Further, it is expected that the mink farmers will not be allowed to replace the animals, so it appears that fur farming is about to end.
Official confirmation has not yet been issued but Respect for Animals understand that fur factory farming in Ireland will finally cease. There is already a commitment in the Programme for Government to phase out mink farming in Ireland.
According to the World Health Organisation, health authorities in Denmark reported cases of Covid-19 that were caused by a mink fur farm associated strain of the novel coronavirus.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control confirmed, on 12 November, that the mink Covid mutation “could also have an impact on the effectiveness of developed vaccines”.
In a letter to the Department of Agriculture, Dr Holohan, the Chief Medical Officer, said the presence of farmed minks presents “an ongoing risk to public health” if the Covid variant found in Denmark was to become “the dominant strain of the virus”.
He said all mink should be culled “as a matter of urgency”.
Respect for Animals has been a leader of the #FurFreeIreland campaign for a number of years. We are now working to get this development converted into a fur farming ban with the utmost urgency.
On Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue confirmed that they will “in due course commence the process of preparing a Bill to provide for the phased introduction of a ban on fur farming which will include a prohibition on mink farming. The Bill will make it illegal for any new fur farms to be established and will put in place phase out arrangements for the small number of current operators.”
Campaigns Director Mark Glover said:
“The news that thousands of mink will be killed is shocking and sad. However, the fact that fur factory farming- a cruel, unjustifiable industry- will cease in Ireland has to be welcomed.
We have campaigned for a Fur Free Ireland for many years and we are finally on the brink of a fur farming ban. Thank you to our friends at NARA and all campaigners and supporters who have helped make this possible.
It is now clear that fur farming is a disaster for animal welfare and a risk to human health.
It is a shame that it has taken a devastating pandemic to bring the cruel and unnecessary fur trade to its knees, but we now must ensure that this barbaric industry is stopped once and for all.”
After a coronavirus mutation was found in the Danish mink, the government wanted to cull millions of fur animals. But apparently, the legal basis for this has so far been lacking.
It was now costing the Minister of Agriculture his job.
Danish Agriculture Minister Mogens Jensenhas resigned after killing millions of minks.
“I informed the Prime Minister today that I want to resign from the government,” he said.
The Danish government had ordered the killing of all farmed mink because of the discovery of a mutated version of the coronavirus, without the necessary legislation for the culling of healthy animals. “I apologize,” Jensen told the Danish broadcaster DR.
The killed minks are trucked to a military site in Denmark.
At the beginning of the month, a mutated version of the coronavirus was found on some Danish farms, which had also infected people. A total of around 15 million mink should then be killed, including healthy animals.
This means that two turbulent weeks in Denmark have reached their climax for the time being in the course of the killing of millions of fur animals.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced on November 4th that all mink in the country should be culled because the coronavirus had mutated in the animals and had already spread to humans.
There was no legal basis
The crux of the scandal: As it turned out, there was no legal basis for the mass culling.
Jensen had only admitted this several days after the measure was announced: “The government has decided that given the seriousness of the situation, it is urgent. Therefore, it was determined that it was not possible to wait for new legislation to be announced. “
In particular, the Cluster 5 variant of the virus had been classified as worrying by the Danish health institute SSI because, according to the institute, it could have a possible impact on future coronavirus vaccines.
As it turned out, the necessary legal basis was missing for the mass cull.
Jensen only admitted this several days after the announcement of the measure.
In the meantime, the government has secured a parliamentary majority for a legal framework that will legally secure the rapid step and banmink keeping in Denmark by the end of 2021.
And I mean…We want the Prime Minister to do the same.
She pronounced the illegal order of mass murder, she is complicit.
Denmark was the world’s largest producer of mink fur up to this week, along with China. “Copenhagen Fur”, the auction house of Danish mink breeders, has a market share of 70 percent of the mink skins sold worldwide.
In 2013, Denmark exported mink skins worth almost two billion euros.
According to the industry association Danske Minkavlere, mink farming currently employs 6,000 people and there are around 1,100 mink farms in the country, most of them in North and West Jutland.
The chairman of the branch association Danske Minkavlerewhines: “The employees are now losing their animals and their livelihoods. The work of decades is now in vain. We had built up the world’s best and healthiest mink population in Denmark.”
This is how you can call the concentration camps for fur animals, built-up work! If you make millions from it.
Now the Danish fur mafia has come to an end.
The Dutch have already banned mink breeding, as have Poland.
Only Finland remains and then we will most likely see an EU ban on this bloody industry.
World Animals Voice 