Why are thousands of minks being killed in Holland because of the coronavirus?

The new spillover, the species jump, of the mink coronavirus in Dutch farms will lead to the killing of thousands of animals as a precaution: we cannot afford another basin of infection (photo: Getty Images) From the second half of April fur mink farms in the Netherlands are coronavirus victims. The first reconstructions say that the pathogen jumped from the human being (some employees of the factories) to the animals, triggering epidemics with a similar trend to that observed in our cities, but that later on sick minks would transmit the virus to people. As a precaution, therefore, to avoid at all costs that mink farms become a reservoir of infection by threatening human communities, the Dutch health authorities, amid protests by animal rights movements, have decided to kill thousands of animals starting from 6 June . There may be a positive note in bitterness: the Netherlands could say goodbye to fur farms before the date set by law, in 2024.

Another spillover

In April the managers of two Dutch fur farms (one of 12,000 and the other of 7,500) began to notice that minks had mucus build-up and gastrointestinal problems, and mortality was increased. Veterinary checks confirmed the suspicion: the minks had been infected with coronavirus. The investigations then reconstructed the transmission chain from the human being to the animals. After cats, tigers, ferrets, dogs and other more or less companion animals, here is another Sars-Cov-2 spillover, only this time the consequences seem much more serious.

Epidemics

As found in the first analysis , in fact, the new coronavirus in mink has given rise to the epidemics extended , as was the case for the human being. Scientists believe that the virus is transmitted between animals through droplets of saliva and mucus, but it is also possible that the transmission from animal to animal is amplified by the narrow space , from feed the shared, and from contact with the litter . A peculiarity which is still without explanation is, that in the different farms are affected outbreaks have had different outcomes : in general, the epidemic will die out when the 90% of the animals is infected, and then virtually all have developed a form of immunity to the virus, but in some farms the mink deaths were very few, while in others the mortality has reached 10% . Yet, researchers have not found mutations in the coronavirus such as to justify an increase in virulence.

the Infection return

If for the other species of animals susceptible to Sars-Cov-2 the threat is the human being who transmits them to the virus without this back (or at least there are no reported cases), for the mink is different. The health authorities in the netherlands, in fact, have found that in two cases (approximately 50 thousand in the Country) mink ill have transmitted the virus to humans . For this reason, the Dutch government has decided to break down thousands of animals , because we can't afford a new reservoir of infection that carries the clock of the pandemic in Europe at the end of February.

The decision is dictated by the precautionary principle to the protection of human health, but is not exempt from criticism . There are those who believe that, as animal welfare organizations, that the risk to human communities adjacent to the farms is very low and that the new born during the epidemic are protected by the mother's antibodies. The problem is that we do not know how to govern immunity, and for the government a new wave of infections in the farms, it would be too risky.

Conversion

A decision considered necessary, for how bitter and that makes it hard for a reality, the industry of fur ) which is already in crisis. The Dutch government has said that it will compensate the farms for the animals lost and someone tries to see the positive side of the story: the Netherlands could be free from breeding mink fur earlier than expected. A law of 2012 , in fact, provides for the entry into force of the ban on breeding these animals for their coat, starting from 2024 , for ethical reasons. And because the activities could not resume before three years, this could be an opportunity not to be missed to accelerate the conversion .