Around 17 million minks in farms are feared to be killed after it was discovered that it carries coronavirus mutation that can spread to humans, Denmark prime minister said on Wednesday.
"We have a great responsibility towards our own population, but with the mutation that has now been found, we have an even greater responsibility for the rest of the world as well," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a news conference, according to BBC reports.
The decision came after authorities found strains in both humans and mink that were less susceptible to antibodies, fueling concern that the new mutation would make any future vaccine less effective, Reuters reported.
The mutated virus was found in a dozen of people who got infected by minks. Danish officials notified the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Denmark's health minister said around half of 783 infected Danes in Northern Denmark, home to a large number of mink farms, had been infected with a virus strain stemming from the farms.
Authorities had registered five cases of the new strain on mink farms and 12 cases in humans
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