France culls 1,000 mink after discovering mutated coronavirus in farm

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-mink-coronavirus-mutation-b1759977.html

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.

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.

‘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.

Now France slaughters its mink: Up to 1,000 animals are culled at farm in western France | Daily Mail Online

From ‘The Independent’ London – excellent as always !

Regards Mark

It’s not just mink: Foxes and raccoon dogs on fur farms ‘may infect humans with coronaviruses’, scientists warn | The Independent

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.

Coronavirus fears as China plans to entrench mink and fox fur industry

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.