The Danish government recently announced plans to kill off all of its 17 million mink in the country, a measure intended to stem the potential spread of a mutated strain of a virus found in the creatures.

The reason for the action is that 12 people had been infected with a mink-related mutant strain – a strain that purportedly causes COVID-19.

Denmark’s State Serum Institute (SSI), in a report released this week, noted that laboratory tests showed “that the new strain had mutations on its so-called spike protein, a part of the virus that invades and infects healthy cells.”

If left unchecked, this mink-based virus can pose a risk to future COVID-19 vaccines that work by disabling the spike protein, the SSI said.

The timeline of the developments leading to the need for culling nation’s mink, as reported in the Epoch Times, is as follows:

Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said last Thursday that the mutated virus had been found in 12 people—11 in northern Denmark and one in western Denmark.

On Friday, seven municipalities in northern Denmark, home to most of the country’s mink farms, went into lockdown to stem the spread of the new variant of the CCP virus”.

Legal challenges are sure to mount, as it is unlikely the government has the authority to issue the killings. Denmark is the world’s largest mink fur exporter and annually produces roughly 17 million furs.

If not overturned by the courts, Danish fur farmers claim the cull may spell the end of the industry in the country.

The full story in the Epoch Times can be read here.