Is the COVID-19 mutation in mink dangerous?

More than 200 people in Denmark are infected with a new (mutated) variant of COVID-19. Denmark is therefore introducing a regional lockdown in North Jutland until December 3. Denmark has also decided to cull all its mink, 17 million, after this mutated form of COVID-19, which can spread in humans, has been found on mink farms.

More than 50 million minks are bred for their coat every year, mainly in China, Denmark, the Netherlands and Poland. Outbreaks have already been reported on fur farms in the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Sweden and the US, and millions of animals have had to be culled.

There is concern that if the COVID-19 mutation continues through the “back and forth” contamination between mink and humans, future corona vaccines will be less effective in the future. Some scientists therefore advocate a complete ban on mink breeding.

The World Health Organization (WHO) believes it is too early to draw any conclusions: We have to wait and see what the implications are, but I don’t think we should draw any conclusions about whether this particular mutation will affect the vaccine’s efficacy‘, according to chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan (WHO).’The coronavirus, like all viruses, mutates over time, but there is no evidence that any of the mutations pose an increased risk to humans.

Dr. Marisa Peyre, an epidemiologist from the French research institute Cirad, is concerned about the development , but also indicates that they do not yet have an overview of the full picture. ‘Every time the virus spreads between animals it changes, and if it changes too much of the current virus that is currently circulating between humans, that could mean that a vaccine or treatment being produced soon may not work as well as it should . to do’ she explained.

The German doctor Martin Krönke does not see it gloomy for the development of vaccines. He answers WirtschaftsWoche’s questions on this matter. Professor Martin Krönke is director of the Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene at the University Hospital of Cologne.

• How dangerous is this mutation?
  Martin Krönke: ‘It’s completely normal for viruses to mutate. The flu virus is constantly mutating, which is why the flu vaccine is adjusted every year. We have also already seen some virus variants with the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus’.
• The new variant in Denmark appears to be particularly dangerous. Thousands of minks are now being culled to prevent the virus from spreading further.
  Martin Krönke:So far, this virus has spread to just over 200 people. The course of the disease did not give rise to concern that this mutation in mink is more dangerous than the previous forms of the virus. ‘
• But what does that mean for the development of vaccines? What effects does the mutation in mink have on the formation of antibodies against COVID-19?
  Martin Krönke:’The protective effect of the antibodies in the vaccine is to prevent the virus from multiplying in the human cell. To do this, the antibodies must bind to a specific virus protein, called the spike protein, to prevent the virus from entering human cells. The mink mutation now apparently affects the binding site of the spike protein, causing some antibodies to lose their neutralizing function. On the other hand, the vaccination creates dozens of different antibodies that bind to different sites on the spike protein. Many of them should still have a neutralizing effect even with the mink mutation.
• Some vaccines are on the verge of breaking through. Should manufacturers like Biontech, Curevac or Moderna now need to revise their tests again?
  Martin Krönke: No, I don’t see it gloomy. The mutation does not mean that the vaccinations are ineffective. Compared to infection with Sars-Cov-2, much higher antibody levels can be achieved with vaccinations, which also have a broader spectrum of action. And so far it has not been shown that the new mink variant is already widely distributed.