The new strain is not inhibited by antibodies to the same degree as the normal virus and could threaten the efficacy of vaccines that are being developed across the globe.
In what comes as shocking news, Denmark has ordered the slaughter of its whole population of minks after discovering new COVID-19 cases linked to mink farms. The number of minks in the country is estimated at 15-17 million.
The Danish health authorities have warned that a mutation of the virus had jumped from minks to humans and 12 people have been infected by it so far.
Known as 'Cluster 5', the new strain is not inhibited by antibodies to the same degree as the normal virus, the authorities warned. They fear that this could threaten the efficacy of vaccines that are being developed across the globe.
Denmark has reported a total of 214 human cases of COVID-19 with coronavirus variants associated with farmed minks since June this year, including 12 cases with a unique variant.
Meanwhile, warning about the new variant, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that it had a combination of mutations or changes that have not been previously observed, adding that the implications of the identified changes in this variant are yet to be well understood.
The UN health agency also cited preliminary findings of studies that indicated this mink-associated variant has “moderately decreased sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies.” It called for further studies to verify the preliminary findings and “to understand any potential implications of this finding in terms of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines in development."
Besides Denmark, five other countries, including the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, have discovered COVID-19 in minks, WHO said.
In wake of the reports, Britain has put a ban on the entry of all non-resident foreigners arriving from Denmark.
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