*And the Humane Society is fine with it, right in line with other sectors of * *"the left," **which is all for the most draconian responses to "the virus."* *(And the culling of that herd, to "keep us safe," is right in line with all* *the catastrophic COVID-19 measures that are killing millions all around* *the world.)*
*Joanna Swabe, the senior director of public affairs for Humane Society International/Europe, * *did express some pleasure <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/04/denmark-announces-cull-of-15-million-mink-over-covid-mutation-fears> at what was otherwise a grim end to Denmark’s mink population. * *As one of the largest fur producers in the global market, the “total shutdown of all Danish * *mink fur farms amid spiralling COVID-19 infections is a significant development.” She even * *went so far as to congratulate the Danish prime minister for the “decision to take such an * *essential and science-led step to protect Danish citizens from the deadly coronavirus.”* NOVEMBER 9, 2020Fur Trades and Pandemics: Coronavirus and Denmark’s Great Mink Massacre <https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/11/09/fur-trades-and-pandemics-coronavirus-and-denmarks-great-mink-massacre/> BY BINOY KAMPMARK <https://www.counterpunch.org/author/jete6/> Facebook <https://www.counterpunch.org/#facebook>Twitter <https://www.counterpunch.org/#twitter>Reddit <https://www.counterpunch.org/#reddit>Email <https://www.counterpunch.org/#email> <https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/11/09/fur-trades-and-pandemics-coronavirus-and-denmarks-great-mink-massacre/print/> “The worst case scenario is a new pandemic, starting all over again out of Denmark,” came the words of a grave Kåre Mølbak, director of the Danish health authorities, the State Serum Institute. According to the Institute, COVID-19 infections were registered <https://www.ssi.dk/aktuelt/nyheder/2020/mutationer-i-minkvirus> on 216 mink farms on November 6. Not only had such infections been registered; new variants, five different clusters in all, were also found. Mink variants were also detected in 214 people among 5,102 samples, of whom 200 live in the North Jutland Region. A noticeable tremor of fear passed through the public health community. It was already known that mink are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. On April 23 and 25, outbreaks linked with mink farms were reported <https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/coronavirus-rips-through-dutch-mink-farms-triggering-culls-prevent-human-infections> at farms in the Netherlands holding 12,000 and 7,500 animals respectively. The mink had been infected by a farm worker with COVID-19 and, like humans, proved to be either asymptomatic, or evidently ill with symptoms such as intestinal pneumonia. In time 12 of the 130 Dutch mink farms were struck. What interested researchers was the level of virulence in the transmission of the virus through the population. “Although SARS-CoV-2 is undergoing plenty of mutations as it spreads through mink,” writes <https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/coronavirus-rips-through-dutch-mink-farms-triggering-culls-prevent-human-infections> Martin Enserik for *Science*, “its virulence shows no signs of increasing.” *Click on the link for the rest.* --- Support News from Underground: https://bit.ly/NFUSupport Visit News from Underground: https://markcrispinmiller.com You received this email because you are subscribed to News from Underground. To unsubscribe from this email list, please go to: http://www.simplelists.com/confirm.php?u=pIdjNUgiG2h8yxbhC54SSy4SEskAoEMs For archives, please go to: https://archives.simplelists.com/nfu
