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HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE said precautionary measures have been put in place amid concerns about a coronavirus variant discovered in Danish mink farms.
At the weekend, the government said anyone arriving from Denmark to Ireland will be asked to restrict their movements for two weeks.
Testing at the three mink farms in the country has begun to see whether the virus is present in Irish minks. The Department of Agriculture said serial testing of all workers at these farms and their household contacts will also take place.
This evening, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said NPHET had a risk assessment meeting on Friday and met over the weekend to identify measures to put in place on a precautionary basis in Ireland. He said communications have been sent to frontline clinicians to raise awareness around the importance of travel history in relation to Denmark.
Announcements about self-isolation recommendations are to be made on flights and points of entry for travellers arriving from Denmark. Anyone suspected of having this variant will have their test sent to the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL) for genome sequencing.
He said the ECDC is expected to provide guidance on the issue this week.
Dr Cillian de Gascun, director of the NVRL said it is difficult at this stage to know the implication of this novel variant but it is concerning that laboratory studies have shown it to be more resistant to neutralising antibodies.
“We know that a lot of the vaccines that are currently in development are targeting a similar region of the genome and are designed in essence to induce a neutralising antibody response. So, it’s very early and far too early to be overly concerned, but I think at a worst case scenario you’re potentially starting a vaccination program with a mutant that is potentially resistant to the antibodies that the vaccines are going to elicit,” he said.
“That’s the worst case scenario, so I think it’s really important what the Danish authorities have done, I think they’ve acted really quickly. We certainly want to control the spread of this novel variant.
“The thing is, in order for it to have a significant impact on any vaccination program it would need to become the dominant strain globally and that’s probably unlikely. This is a mink-adapted virus so as it transmits back into humans, we would expect to see it adapt and change again. But thankfully at the moment it doesn’t seem to be any more transmissible in humans or any more virulent or severe in humans.”
He said there is no evidence of this mutation in humans in Ireland and the Department of Agriculture will be providing sequences for mink which can be studied at the laboratory.
As the worlds largest producer of mink fur, Denmark has 1,080 mink farms, with Covid-19 being detected on 207 of them.
According to the World Health Organisation, on 5 November, health authorities in Denmark reported 12 cases of Covid-19 that were caused by a mink-associated strain of the novel coronavirus.
Eight of these cases had links to mink farms, while the remaining four were from the local community.
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Shocked that we even have mink farms here.
@Aisling: disgusting.
@Shane McGrath: lots in Donegal
@Aisling: you literally took the words out of my mouth. Awful isn’t it?
And the government funds them with taxpayers money! Thankfully I think they have been told to wind down business.
https://www.donegaldaily.com/2019/04/25/irish-council-against-bloodsports-slam-e200000-grants-to-donegal-fur-farms/amp/
Why are there Irish mink farms?
@Mick Hyland: fake eyelashes
@Niamh Hayes: please tell me that’s a joke?
@Amused Bystander: no it’s TRUE. they’re mink. Imagine dying to create something that silly looking.
Who even wears mink any more? I would be morto. Seriously.
@Dearbhla O Reilly: Fake eyelashes are from minks….weird!
@Dearbhla O Reilly: Russians.
@Alan Lynch: you’re so silly. Morto for ya.
Forgot about eyelashes being mink. Morto for wearing them too.
Totes morto all around leds.
Surely nobody should be arriving from Denmark?
@David Law: The UK has banned arrivals from Denmark.
@David Law: the problem is Denmark is linked to Germany and therefore onto Europe . If it was an Island it could be contained but even if flights stopped from Denmark, flights will go ahead from neighbouring Germany…..etc . Lets hope it can be contained and this positive news of a vaccine will come good . The problem seems that it already has become zoonotic from Mink !
How are mink farms still a thing. I know they are mean bustards to the ahem….bustards et al. But what we are doing to them is beyond despicable. Poor little guys.
Talk of a vaccine circulates and suddenly the virus mutates
@Mike Litterus: or talk of the mink since the weekend and news of vaccine breaks today. It’s less dramatic when you put it the right way round.
@Mike Litterus: all virus mutation is very well known. Perhaps you should read more.
I hope all the animals rights people who released mink into the wild are happy now.
We can and should cull all mink in farms and close them down, but our rivers are thick with wild mink at this stage.
@John Mulligan: Gas. I read these 17million mink were farmed not wild.
Thats it no more Danish Pastries.
@Jay Kearney: why, do they make those with mink?
Mink are being incinerated alive. The process is to gas them for 10 to 15 seconds and throw them into an incinerator but many survive the gassing. Absolutely barbaric
What is the purpose of mink farms ???
@Alan Barber:
Mink cheese!
@Alan Barber: I suspect it may be to farm mink. They are very popular pets.
@Alan Barber: high end clothing, pork, cheese and mink are the biggest export in Denmark
@Andrew Letcher: not pets, it’s for fur. They are kept in cages, then gassed and skinned. Fur has lots of uses….ALL fashion related
@Alan Barber: To farm minks, clue is in the name.
@Rúairí O’ Sullivan: Just remember fashion is the 2nd largest contributor to global warming!
@Rúairí O’ Sullivan: OMG so these little black and white critters I bought. May not be mink. Does this mean no cheese either?
@Alan Barber: fake eyelashes
The Danish Government websites dates this back to early September. Worrying.
It’s an engineered virus so its obviously going to mutate.
@Eddie Michael: oh god, really.
So your saying a naturally occurring virus doesn’t mutate?……oh wait….
@Eddie Michael: sweet jesus…did the YouTube machine tell you that? Did you watch 15 videos and come to that conclusion? Do you actually understand how biology works?! Trogladite
I’m not saying that God is a vegan but it would explain most of 2020.
It’s OK! We have the vaccine soon.
@Dave Barrett: Er, the whole issue is that this strain is antibody resistant so the vaccine may not work on it. or where you been sarcastic? we need emoji’s on the journal.
Lol! Mink farms. Hands up if you laughed about the current virus coming fro a dead bat at a food market. Not exactly a million miles away. But you know, good employer, have to make a living boss! etc etc.
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