(ANSA) - ROME, 23 NOV -
Health Minister Roberto Speranza on Monday suspended mink
farming across Italy after seven countries reported mink-related
Sars-CoV-2 mutations in humans.
The suspension lasts until the end of February when a new
assessment of the epidemiological situation will be made, the
health ministry said.
The measure is aimed at averting COVID transmission via mink
farming.
The new mutations are identified as Covid-19 mink variants as
they have repeatedly been found in mink and now in humans as
well, the Guardian reported last week.
Uncertainty around the implications of the discovery of a
Covid-19 mink variant in humans led Denmark, the world's largest
mink fur producer, to launch a nationwide cull earlier this
month.
The cull was sparked by research from Denmark's public health
body, the Statens Serum Institut (SSI), which showed that a mink
variant called C5 was harder for antibodies to neutralise and
posed a potential threat to vaccine efficacy.
Denmark, the Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, the Faroe
Islands, Russia and the US have all reported cases of
mink-related mutations.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
