Denmark says novel coronavirus has been found in marten! What exactly happened? Can people and animals be infected in both directions?

The COVID-19 virus, which broke out around the world this year, is highly contagious and transmitted from person to person, but there is no animal transmission. But recently, Denmark said novel coronavirus was found in the breeding mink! What exactly happened? Can people and animals be infected in both directions?

First, Denmark said novel coronavirus was found in the breeding mink! What exactly happened?

Danish veterinarians and the Food Administration said in a press release on the 17th that after sampling and testing 34 minks in a mink farm last weekend, it was found that there was novel coronavirus in the mink.

The statement said that the mink farm is in North Rutland Island. Veterinarians and the Food Administration also sampled minks after a person associated with the farm was recently diagnosed with novel coronavirus. This is the first time novel coronavirus has been found in marten farmed in Denmark, and the marten with symptoms has died.

The communique said that in order to prevent the potential risk of infection, the management bureau has conducted eliminate virus on the minks in the same column, and will conduct novel coronavirus sampling and testing on minks from other farms in the area.

In April this year, two mink farms in the Netherlands reported cases of mink infection with novel coronavirus, which experts believe may have been infected by farm employees infected with the virus.

The World Health Organization says some animals may be infected as a result of close contact with humans infected with novel coronavirus. There have been cases of infection in animals and pets raised by COVID-19 patients, but more evidence is needed to know whether animals and pets will spread novel coronavirus to humans. According to the current evidence, interpersonal communication is still the main channel of communication.

At present, the COVID-19 epidemic in Denmark has calmed down and has opened the border to Germany, Iceland and Norway since June 15. There were no new confirmed cases in Denmark on the 17th. At present, there are a total of 12294 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 598 have died.

Second, can people and animals be infected in both directions?

Novel coronavirus may have had a "mutation" and is more likely to infect human cells, according to a new study in the United States on June 12. The mutation, called D615G, makes it easier for the virus to enter human cells with a larger and more stable number of subprotuberant proteins. Fauci, an American infectious disease expert, has said that the process of virus gene mutation is consistent with the process of infecting humans from animals. Earlier, a worker in the Netherlands infected novel coronavirus from a mink, or the first animal case in the world to infect a person.

Attached: a brief introduction to Danish mink

Danish mink is the general name of mink produced in Denmark. In general, it refers to pet minks such as Andrew minks and leather minks growing in the ice sheet of the Gulf of Niya in Yanbo. The adult Danish mink weighs about 1.5 kilograms and is slightly different between males and females. The body is elegant and slender, with a body length of between 30cm and 50cm. Danish fur animals are mainly mink, which is the fourth largest export species of agricultural products in Denmark after pork, dairy products and grass species.

In addition, although animals have infected novel coronavirus in a few parts of the world, there is no evidence that animals play an important role in novel coronavirus's transmission. And according to some information available, the risk of animals spreading the virus to humans is very low. So friends who have pets at home need not worry too much, pay attention to protection, disinfection before going home to contact with pets, the problem is not big.