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Because it is so infectious, it will go through an entire herd or farm within days and eventually cause mutations and jump back to humans. Citation needed

roywiggins 6y ago
https://www.who.int/csr/don/06-november-2020-mink-associated-sars-cov2-denmark/en/ https://www.who.int/csr/don/06-november-2020-mink-associated...
s_dev 6y ago
The culling of the Mink Farms in Denmark should be evidence enough that it can travel through animals. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/05/pollution-fears-over-mink-buried-after-covid-culling-in-denmark https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/05/pollution-fear... The fact that it already mutated going through a bat or pangolin before going back to humans suggests this is based in sound evidence.
- seneca 6y ago
  > The culling of the Mink Farms in Denmark should be evidence enough that it can travel through animals. Not that I think you're wrong, but that's circular logic. "Minks were culled because it can travel through animals. Minks being culled is evidence it can travel through animals."
- rowanG077 6y ago
  Not saying I don't believe it. But a government doing something is not even close to proof.
nucleardog 6y ago
Minks have already been a problem leading to Denmark culling 17 million of them alone, with the problem being present in several other countries[0]. The virus is tearing through the farms[1]: > In Denmark, the world’s largest producer of mink pelts, authorities are struggling to control farm outbreaks, despite extensive control measures. In many affected farms, almost all animals have antibodies against the virus. It's mutating and jumping back to people[1]: > Fonager says researchers in Denmark have sequenced viral samples from 40 mink farms and identified some 170 coronavirus variants. He adds that in viral samples from people — representing about one-fifth of the country’s total COVID confirmed cases — they’ve found some 300 people with variants that contain mutations thought to have first emerged in mink. > [...] > One mink-associated mutation has spread more widely in people. The mutation, Y453F, also encodes an amino acid change in the spike protein and has been found in about 300 sequences from people in Denmark, as well as sequences from mink and people in the Netherlands. An experimental study suggests that virus variants with the Y453F mutation partially escaped detection by a commercial monoclonal antibody. Like most things SARS-CoV-2 right now, we don't exactly have a rigorous academic study. Just rumblings. But so far there's some evidence pointing this direction. [0] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-news/here-s-why-denmark-culled-17-million-minks-now-plans-n1249610 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-news/here-s-why-denmark-... [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03218-z https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03218-z
cogman10 6y ago
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid19-is-surging-but-flu-cases-are-down https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid19-is-surging-bu... All the covid restrictions we've put in place have turned this flu season extremely mild. Meanwhile, we've seen far more COVID cases than flu cases. I don't think it's a great leap to say "COVID is far more infectious than the flu" and it's not a great leap to say "The flu is a very infectious disease". (I say all this knowing that the flu is several types of coronaviruses.)

roywiggins 6y ago

https://www.who.int/csr/don/06-november-2020-mink-associated-sars-cov2-denmark/en/ https://www.who.int/csr/don/06-november-2020-mink-associated...

s_dev 6y ago

The culling of the Mink Farms in Denmark should be evidence enough that it can travel through animals. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/05/pollution-fears-over-mink-buried-after-covid-culling-in-denmark https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/05/pollution-fear... The fact that it already mutated going through a bat or pangolin before going back to humans suggests this is based in sound evidence.

seneca 6y ago
> The culling of the Mink Farms in Denmark should be evidence enough that it can travel through animals. Not that I think you're wrong, but that's circular logic. "Minks were culled because it can travel through animals. Minks being culled is evidence it can travel through animals."
rowanG077 6y ago
Not saying I don't believe it. But a government doing something is not even close to proof.

nucleardog 6y ago

Minks have already been a problem leading to Denmark culling 17 million of them alone, with the problem being present in several other countries[0]. The virus is tearing through the farms[1]: > In Denmark, the world’s largest producer of mink pelts, authorities are struggling to control farm outbreaks, despite extensive control measures. In many affected farms, almost all animals have antibodies against the virus. It's mutating and jumping back to people[1]: > Fonager says researchers in Denmark have sequenced viral samples from 40 mink farms and identified some 170 coronavirus variants. He adds that in viral samples from people — representing about one-fifth of the country’s total COVID confirmed cases — they’ve found some 300 people with variants that contain mutations thought to have first emerged in mink. > [...] > One mink-associated mutation has spread more widely in people. The mutation, Y453F, also encodes an amino acid change in the spike protein and has been found in about 300 sequences from people in Denmark, as well as sequences from mink and people in the Netherlands. An experimental study suggests that virus variants with the Y453F mutation partially escaped detection by a commercial monoclonal antibody. Like most things SARS-CoV-2 right now, we don't exactly have a rigorous academic study. Just rumblings. But so far there's some evidence pointing this direction. [0] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-news/here-s-why-denmark-culled-17-million-minks-now-plans-n1249610 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-news/here-s-why-denmark-... [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03218-z https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03218-z

cogman10 6y ago

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid19-is-surging-but-flu-cases-are-down https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid19-is-surging-bu... All the covid restrictions we've put in place have turned this flu season extremely mild. Meanwhile, we've seen far more COVID cases than flu cases. I don't think it's a great leap to say "COVID is far more infectious than the flu" and it's not a great leap to say "The flu is a very infectious disease". (I say all this knowing that the flu is several types of coronaviruses.)