"Forslag til Lov om aflivning af og midlertidigt forbud mod hold af mink" (Draft Law on Culling of mink and Temporary Ban on Keeping Mink)

The law draft concerns a new law that determines a temporary ban on keeping mink, including requirements for the culling of all mink, which is not included in restrictions of other legislation.The purpose of the law is to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among mink in the sake of public health.In mid-June, the first mink farms in North Jutland were found infected with COVID-19, and the virus has since spread to over 200 farms across Jutland, and on the recommendation of the veterinary and health authorities, the government decided on 1 October 2020 to cull all infected crews as well as crews within a radius of 7.8 kilometers.The health authorities assess that continued mink breeding during an ongoing COVID-19 epidemic entails a significant risk to public health, including the possibilities for preventing COVID-19 with vaccines. This is stated in the Statens Serum Institut's risk assessment of 3 November 2020 of human health with continued mink breeding.It also appears that continued mink breeding during the epidemic entails a significant risk of recurrence of the spread of infection among mink and humans as in Western Denmark 2020. Statens Serum Institut assesses that this entails a great risk to public health, both by leading to greater disease burden among humans, and by the fact that a large virus reservoir in mink increases the risk of new viral mutations that vaccines do not provide optimal protection against.Statens Serum Institut assesses that the flock immunity obtained through vaccination or by the infection being over may, overall, be weakened or absent, and that it must also be expected to lead to a significant deterioration in the possibilities for maintaining epidemic control in Denmark.According to the risk assessment, Statens Serum Institut has detected a mutation, cluster 5, which preliminary laboratory studies indicate has reduced sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies. There is a risk that a new mutation has arisen against which current vaccine candidates do not provide optimal protection.On this basis, it is proposed that all mink on Danish mink farms must be culled (incl. breeding animals), and the production must be stopped, including reinstatement of new mink, until 31 December 2021.The Danish government wants to use the urgent procedure due to the serious and unpredictable situation that the COVID-19 pandemic poses to human health. The government decided on 3 November 2020 that all mink in Denmark must be culled as soon as possible for the sake of public health.
The decision was made after the health authorities submitted a risk assessment, which underlined that the presence of mink in Denmark in itself constitutes a risk to public health and the effect of future vaccines against COVID-19 in the current situation.