At least two US companies, as well as Russian researchers, are working on coronavirus mink vaccines. The animals became ill and died in large numbers from the virus, which was also transmitted to humans in mutated form.
Zoetis, a large pharmaceutical company in New Jersey with more than $ 6 billion in annual revenue in 2019, and Medgene Labs, a small business with about 35 employees based in South Dakota, are both testing vaccinations in mink. They are seeking licensing of their products at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Both companies said their vaccine technologies are generally similar to those used by Novovax for a human vaccine, which was tried in late stages. The system involves insect cells producing the ear protein on the coronavirus, which is then attached to a harmless virus that enters the body’s cells and trains the immune system to be ready for the right thing.
Minks are known to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, the pandemic virus, in half a dozen countries around the world.
All members of the weasel family are susceptible to infections and develop symptoms and transmit the virus, at least to others of their species. This is partly because of the proteins on the surfaces of their cells and the structure of their respiratory systems. Scientists do not know why mink in particular become very ill, but the stressful conditions on farms can lead to greater amounts of viruses.
The most serious outbreak was in Denmark, which shut down mink farming until at least 2022 due to mutations in the virus that occurred in infected mink.
Late last fall, Denmark ordered up to 17 million of the animals to be slaughtered. Most dead mink are not allowed to skin skin for the fur trade. On average, the country sells up to 17 million furs, but last year’s decision also killed its breeding stock, and there are fears that the industry will not recover.
In the United States, on the other hand, about 275 small mink farms produce about three million skins annually, according to an industry group, Fur Commission USA. Thousands of American mink were infected and killed, but states dealt with the problem and placed it in quarantine. some farms. The Department of Agriculture did not get involved, and there were no orders to kill the mink population as in Denmark.
Nevertheless, mink infections in the United States pose a threat to public health. At least two minks that escaped from the farms tested positive. And a wild mink tested it positive. Scientists are concerned that if the virus spreads to more wild mink or to other animals, it could become established in natural populations and form a reservoir from which it could emerge, perhaps in mutated form, to infect humans again at another time. .
So far, the mutations observed in Danish mink have not yet turned out to be a problem. But mutations in the virus in infected people have yielded at least two varieties that are more contagious. Allowing a second species, mink, to serve as a different breeding ground for the virus contributes to the chance of mutation as well as escaping to other animals. Consequently, a mink vaccine may have value outside the industry. And while the Department of Agriculture is not currently considering vaccination applications for cats and dogs, it is a possibility the companies are considering.
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Answers to your vaccine questions
Although the exact order of vaccine recipients may vary by state, medical workers and residents of long-term care institutions are likely to be first. If you want to understand how this decision is made, this article will help.
Life will only become normal when society as a whole gets enough protection against the coronavirus. Once countries approve a vaccine, they will be able to vaccinate at most a few percent of their citizens in the first few months. The unvaccinated majority will still be vulnerable to infection. A growing number of coronavirus vaccines offer strong protection against disease. But it is also possible for people to spread the virus without even knowing they are infected, because they experience only mild symptoms or not at all. Scientists do not yet know whether the vaccination also blocks the transmission of the coronavirus. For now, even vaccinated people will have to wear masks, crowds inside, and so on. Must avoid. Once enough people are vaccinated, it will be very difficult for the coronavirus to find vulnerable people who can become infected. Depending on how quickly we as a society reach the goal, life by the fall of 2021 could begin to approach something as normal.
Yes, but not forever. The two vaccines that may be approved this month clearly protect people against Covid-19. However, the clinical trials that have yielded these results have not been designed to determine whether people who have been vaccinated can still spread the coronavirus without developing symptoms. It remains a possibility. We know that people who are naturally infected by the coronavirus can spread it while experiencing no cough or other symptoms. Researchers will study this question intensively as the vaccines begin. Meanwhile, even vaccinated people will have to think of themselves as possible distributors.
The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is delivered like a shot in the arm, like other typical vaccines. The injection will not be different from what you received before. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccines, and none of them have reported serious health problems. But some of them felt transient discomfort, including pains and flu-like symptoms that usually last a day. It is possible that people after the second shot may be planning to take a day off from work or school. Although these experiences are not pleasant, it is a good sign: it is the result of your own immune system that encounters the vaccine and produces a powerful response that will provide long-lasting immunity.
No. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use a genetic molecule to replenish the immune system. That molecule, known as mRNA, is eventually destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse with a cell so that the molecule can slide. The cell uses the mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus, which can stimulate the immune system. Each of our cells can contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules at any one time that they produce to make their own proteins. Once those proteins are made, our cells cut the mRNA with special enzymes. The mRNA molecules that make up our cells can only survive for a few minutes. The mRNA in vaccines is designed to resist the cells’ enzymes a little longer, allowing the cells to make extra viral proteins and trigger a stronger immune response. But the mRNA can only take a few days at most before being destroyed.
Zoetis produces many livestock and dog and cat vaccines. For pets, it makes vaccines for infectious respiratory diseases in dogs, leukemia virus and others. The company began work on an animal vaccine at the start of the pandemic in February.
“When we first became infected with a dog in Hong Kong, we immediately implemented our normal procedures for developing an emerging infectious disease vaccine,” said Mahesh Kumar, senior vice president of Zoetis. said. “We decided to prepare a vaccine for dogs and cats.”
As soon as the news of mink infections became known, the company approached the U.S. Department of Agriculture and obtained permission to test the vaccine in minks. In the past, the path from testing to licensing for other vaccines took several months.
Dr Kumar pointed out that vaccination against veterinary coronavirus occurs, such as that for infectious bronchitis of birds. The disease was first identified in the 1930s, and a number of companies are making vaccines.
Medgene, a small business at an early stage, began work on a technology for coronavirus vaccines for animals in response to a devastating disease that hit pigs in China in 2013, swine epidemic diarrhea virus. Mark Luecke, CEO of the company, said as soon as news of the pandemic broke out last year and the coronavirus was identified and its genetic sequence described, a team ‘immediately started working on a vaccine that would be suitable for animals.’
Because the company did not know which animals would be susceptible, it began, as human vaccine developers usually do, to test them in mice. When it became apparent that mink was particularly susceptible, the company contacted people in the mink industry and began testing the virus. Mr. Luecke said it would be feasible to manufacture it this spring, pending licensing.
Outside the United States, other researchers are also working on mink vaccines. Researchers in Russia and Finland are pursuing animal vaccines that can be used for mink and other animals.