Nov 27, 2020 11:24 PM
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/...emic-risk/
INTRO: After illegally ordering the cull of the country’s 17 million mink to prevent the spread of Covid-19, lawmakers now say they want to exhume their mass graves and incinerate them over concerns that they could contaminate nearby waters, while veterinary officials warn that mink escaping from farms could establish a permanent Covid-19 reservoir in the country’s wild animals that could allow the virus to re-enter humans and precipitate future pandemics.
KEY POINTS: The Danish government said it wanted to exhume, and likely incinerate, the millions of mink culled to prevent the spread of Covid-19 after hundreds have begun to rise from their mass graves, likely caused by a buildup of gases from decomposition.
While authorities say the escapees — which local papers have colorfully termed “zombie mink” — do not pose a risk of spreading Covid-19, locals are concerned about possible contamination of drinking water.
Zombie mink are not the only mink to have seemingly escaped the Covid-19 cull, with an official at the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration warning that of the thousands of mink that usually manage to escape fur farms each year, 5% of these could be expected to be infected with Covid-19.
It’s possible that these escapees could infect a number of wild animals in Denmark, which could create a Covid-19 reservoir in wildlife that could then spread back to humans, creating a permanent risk of future pandemics.
According to professor Joanne Santini, a microbiologist at University College London, this could make Covid-19 “extremely difficult to control its further spread to animals and then back to humans,” the Guardian reports... (MORE)
Velvet ants are the most feared insect in nature
INTRO: After illegally ordering the cull of the country’s 17 million mink to prevent the spread of Covid-19, lawmakers now say they want to exhume their mass graves and incinerate them over concerns that they could contaminate nearby waters, while veterinary officials warn that mink escaping from farms could establish a permanent Covid-19 reservoir in the country’s wild animals that could allow the virus to re-enter humans and precipitate future pandemics.
KEY POINTS: The Danish government said it wanted to exhume, and likely incinerate, the millions of mink culled to prevent the spread of Covid-19 after hundreds have begun to rise from their mass graves, likely caused by a buildup of gases from decomposition.
While authorities say the escapees — which local papers have colorfully termed “zombie mink” — do not pose a risk of spreading Covid-19, locals are concerned about possible contamination of drinking water.
Zombie mink are not the only mink to have seemingly escaped the Covid-19 cull, with an official at the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration warning that of the thousands of mink that usually manage to escape fur farms each year, 5% of these could be expected to be infected with Covid-19.
It’s possible that these escapees could infect a number of wild animals in Denmark, which could create a Covid-19 reservoir in wildlife that could then spread back to humans, creating a permanent risk of future pandemics.
According to professor Joanne Santini, a microbiologist at University College London, this could make Covid-19 “extremely difficult to control its further spread to animals and then back to humans,” the Guardian reports... (MORE)
Velvet ants are the most feared insect in nature