Danish mink cull highlights the unknowns of Covid-19
Virus transfers from animals to humans carry significant risks
While governments around the world are doing their best to beat coronavirus with a new wave of lockdowns, there are worrying signs that the virus itself might have other plans. In Denmark, the country’s entire population of 17m mink is to be culled after a mutated version of the disease — one that has already spread to humans — was found on mink farms. Danish authorities said the mutation appeared to weaken the ability to form antibodies, raising concerns about the effectiveness of a future vaccine. If the animals were not killed the pandemic could restart, this time in Denmark, according to a worst-case scenario painted by the country’s top epidemiologist.
At this stage, despite the drastic measures being taken, the Danes’ bleak prognosis should be treated with caution. International researchers of Sars-Cov-2, the coronavirus strain behind the outbreak in this pandemic, have said that significant questions remain over the exact nature of the mutations and how the variant was tested. Scientists have also warned that it is too early to assess the implications on the efficacy of a vaccine. Virologists will now study the latest mutations to establish how they infect people, including their production of antibodies. A key question will be whether this strain is more virulent in humans.
Even before the outbreak in Denmark, researchers had become concerned about what happens when the virus moves back and forth from one species to another. America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in August highlighted reports from infected mink farms in the Netherlands that suggested that the virus could spread from mink to humans. Some cats and dogs on mink farms in Europe had also tested positive, the report added. And in September, Dutch scientists published a paper — still to be peer-reviewed — describing cases of transmission of the virus from animals to humans on mink farms in the country.
The Denmark cull serves as a reminder of the zoonotic origins of this pandemic and the perils inherent in overly-close proximity between humans and animals. Close to three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases in humans come from other animals and the majority of these originated in wildlife. Greater proximity increases the chances of the spread of these diseases by making the transmission of pathogens between animals and humans easier.
The pandemic has prompted calls for governments to put in place conditions for a “green recovery” but the focus so far has been primarily on climate change. The potential loss of biodiversity is of equal importance and indeed interlinked with the climate. Investors are slowly waking up to the significant financial risks stemming from the loss of biodiversity. Damage to ecosystems, including forests, grasslands and coral reefs — and the associated loss of biodiversity — could drain nearly $10tn from the global economy by 2050, according to the WWF, the conservation group.
The culling of the mink may devastate Denmark’s fur industry for years to come — perhaps for ever — but it should also serve as a reminder of the many ways in which humans exploit animals, some of which are risky as well as cruel. Animal rights groups have been quick to seize on the issue with denunciation. Several European countries have already banned fur farming, including the UK in 2003. The Dutch government this summer brought forward the mandatory closure of mink farms in the country by three years to next spring. As large parts of the globe endure further lockdown restrictions, the plight of Denmark’s mink highlights the many lessons the world still has to learn from Covid-19.