The Danish government, worried about the mutation of the coronavirus, decided to destroy all minks in the country. Such fate awaits about 17 million animals. The decision of the Danish government was announced by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. According to Danish PM, the virus mutated among minks and was transmitted to humans, which was unlawful and a lie.

A mutated version of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus has been found in twelve people in North Jutland, according to Danish health authorities. The danger is that this mutation could hamper the effect of a future vaccine and increase the risk of virus spreading not only to other parts of Denmark, but to all of Europe.

Denmark is the world’s largest producer of mink furs. Currently, there are over a thousand mink breeding farms in the country. More than 200 farms have been diagnosed with coronavirus cases, according to Danish authorities. At a third of them, the livestock of fur-bearing animals has already been completely destroyed. Compensation is paid to mink producers.

In June, after an outbreak of infections in the Netherlands, the authorities of this country ordered the destruction of all fur-bearing animals at the affected farms.