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Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

thelocal.dk

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Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#101

Post by bkor »

aeyes wrote: post #38
sethhovestol wrote: post #33

From the article this looks like it's not SARS-Cov-19, can someone confirm that? Does the weak immune response mean it's also novel?

Seems like it's SARS-Cov-19: > Mette Frederiksen said a report from a government agency that maps the coronavirus in Denmark has shown a mutation in the virus found in 12 people in the northern part of the country who got infected by minks. Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said half the 783 human COVID-19 cases in northern Denmark ”are related” to mink. Source: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Denmark-wants-to-…

That has been noticed in Netherlands for many months (including mutation). According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur_farming it was 25 May 2020. Denmark ignored the issue for a very long time for economical reasons. Netherlands was slow to respond, Denmark: notified by Dutch around that time, they ignored it. They're risking that a vaccine won't work.

I recently learned that in various cases fake fur is made from minks. Because of that I'd appreciate is those mink farms were banned, though banning sometimes just increases the price.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#102

Post by Devils-Avocado »

graeme wrote: post #18

This is one of the serious dangers with the idea of letting the virus run wild to achieve herd immunity: you create a lot of animal reservoirs. Though minks do seek way riskier than average.

I would consider it the danger of lockdown. We guarantee that the virus is still festering somewhere on the planet, and that vulnerable populations remain around the world, risking flareups.

With zero response - ie. what we do for influenza - we establish herd immunity over a short, sharp period, and the virus immediately falls over.

In any case, even if this mink-mutant variant is slightly deadlier, the data from Sweden shows that COVID deaths can be effectively reduced to near-zero from basic herd immunity strategies - Sweden yesterday recorded a single COVID death. So it makes sense to adopt the Swedish approach now, for a variant of the virus we know how to treat.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#103

Post by ashtonkem »

aeyes wrote: post #38
sethhovestol wrote: post #33

From the article this looks like it's not SARS-Cov-19, can someone confirm that? Does the weak immune response mean it's also novel?

Seems like it's SARS-Cov-19: > Mette Frederiksen said a report from a government agency that maps the coronavirus in Denmark has shown a mutation in the virus found in 12 people in the northern part of the country who got infected by minks. Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said half the 783 human COVID-19 cases in northern Denmark ”are related” to mink. Source: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Denmark-wants-to-…

Minor correction: the virus is SARS-CoV-2, and the disease it causes is COVID-19

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#104

Post by IAmGraydon »

robocat wrote: post #61
im3w1l wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Source?

From aeyes (distant cousin) comment: “Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said half the 783 human COVID-19 cases in northern Denmark ‘are related’ to mink.” from https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Denmark-wants-to-cul...

Those cases are the original virus, not the new mink mutated one. It was just spread by the mink population.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#106

Post by ljf »

ornornor wrote: post #100
j_4 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A single hog being killed for 150000 kcal of sustenance is a lot more morally acceptable than 50 minks being killed for a single luxury coat. It's not cognitive dissonance to think this. (numbers from quick, non-exhaustive googling)

I don’t agree. Pigs are on the same cognitive level as dogs. Would it be morally acceptable to kill and eat a (big) dog for its 150000 calories after raising in terrible conditions for a few years?

I agree btw - but most pigs are killed after just 20 to 24 weeks - though yes breeding mothers are kept in terrible conditions for years.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#107

Post by logifail »

ornornor wrote: post #100
j_4 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A single hog being killed for 150000 kcal of sustenance is a lot more morally acceptable than 50 minks being killed for a single luxury coat. It's not cognitive dissonance to think this. (numbers from quick, non-exhaustive googling)

I don’t agree. Pigs are on the same cognitive level as dogs. Would it be morally acceptable to kill and eat a (big) dog for its 150000 calories after raising in terrible conditions for a few years?

> raising in terrible conditions

...source?

Farming doesn't have to be intensive. We get milk from a nearby farm. Given we mostly walk there the "food miles" would be precisely zero.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#108

Post by claudeganon »

Devils-Avocado wrote: post #102
graeme wrote: post #18

This is one of the serious dangers with the idea of letting the virus run wild to achieve herd immunity: you create a lot of animal reservoirs. Though minks do seek way riskier than average.

I would consider it the danger of lockdown. We guarantee that the virus is still festering somewhere on the planet, and that vulnerable populations remain around the world, risking flareups. With zero response - ie. what we do for influenza - we establish herd immunity over a short, sharp period, and the virus immediately falls over. In any case, even if this mink-mutant variant is slightly deadlier, the data from Sw…

>I would consider it the danger of lockdown.

You would be objectively wrong? Basic reasoning would tell you that places with less cases have a lower probability of transmitting the disease to animal reservoirs and risking harmful mutations coming back at us.

>With zero response - ie. what we do for influenza - we establish herd immunity over a short, sharp period, and the virus immediately falls over.

This is also incorrect? We take a number of proactive actions against the flu every year, from vaccination, to other public health and treatment measures, to even more drastic steps like culling livestock populations where more dangerous strains have emerged.

>So it makes sense to adopt the Swedish approach now, for a variant of the virus we know how to treat.

We don't actually have any idea about the consequences of this mutation, especially in a larger population, so we should do the exact opposite and proceed with extreme caution until its risk profile is understood.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#109

Post by mcguire »

ericmay wrote: post #2

> Denmark, the world's biggest producer of mink fur, said Wednesday it would cull all of the country's minks after a mutated version of the new coronavirus was detected at its mink farms and had spread to people. Questions: 1. Is this worrisome? 2. If Denmark is catching this, should we be concerned that the virus has mutated in other animals and has thus far gone undetected?

"Coronavirus has been detected at 207 Danish mink farms, Frederiksen said."

1 or 2? Probably no big deal. 10 or 20? Worrying. 207? Yeah, the new strain is probably everywhere, or will be shortly.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#110

Post by nkrisc »

ornornor wrote: post #100
j_4 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A single hog being killed for 150000 kcal of sustenance is a lot more morally acceptable than 50 minks being killed for a single luxury coat. It's not cognitive dissonance to think this. (numbers from quick, non-exhaustive googling)

I don’t agree. Pigs are on the same cognitive level as dogs. Would it be morally acceptable to kill and eat a (big) dog for its 150000 calories after raising in terrible conditions for a few years?

I don't see why it matters if it's a dog or a pig. But to answer your question: it depends on a lot of factors, if you really want to go down the morality rabbit hole.

I guess I'll say it's less morally acceptable to slaughter a dog for food that's kept in terrible conditions than one that's kept in good conditions.

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