Russia: Mutated coronavirus strain discovered in Siberia

[Resurgence]

A mutated version of the coronavirus strain that causes Covid-19 has been discovered in Siberia, the head of Russia’s consumer safety watchdog said Tuesday.

“We’re seeing certain changes in the proteins, and these changes detected in Siberia allow us to assume that this region is forming its own version [of coronavirus] with certain mutations,” Rospotrebnadzor head Anna Popova said at a scientific symposium, according to Interfax.

Popova spoke as the coronavirus outbreak continued its shift from the epicenter of Moscow to Russia's regions, which are seeing around three-quarters of new infections and deaths during the country's record-setting second wave. Several of these regions have reported overflowing morgues and severe hospital bed and staff shortages in recent weeks.

The state-run TASS news agency quoted Popova as saying that none of the mutations discovered in Russia so far have been shown to make the virus more contagious or dangerous.

Popova noted that foreign and domestic coronavirus genome analysis has shown “massively imported strains of the virus from Western Europe” but none from China.

“There are no strains circulating in Russia that would have been brought from China earlier this year,” Popova added.

Viruses such as the one that emerged in China late last year mutate constantly and new variants are not necessarily worse than the previous ones.

So far, no study has shown newer variants of SARS-Cov-2, the strain that causes Covid-19, to be more contagious or dangerous than their predecessors.



https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/11/1...ria-a72070

[ill88eagle]

The problem is that some of these mutations are resistant to the vaccines currently *almost* in production. Denmark just recently culled all farm-minks (almost 20 million) cause a mutated covid was spreading from minks to humans- one with different 'spikes' which would render the vaccine less effective if not useless. (It's about time we put an end to fur farming anyways)

[RobertX]

No disrespect, ill88eagle, but do you support this culling?

Farmed minks are beings too.

Of course, what must be done must be done, so you may be right.

[Moe]

Farmed or not, the mutation they carry is a considerable threat. It is very unfortunate this needed to happen, but the risk of transmission didn't leave much room for a more humane solution.


I don't see any of these mutations being a "threat" to the currently developed vaccines. These vaccines will still be effective against the strain they target. More like yet another analogy to the flu where vaccines will need to be updated to keep up with the dominant strains.

[ill88eagle]

No disrespect, ill88eagle, but do you support this culling?

Farmed minks are beings too.

Of course, what must be done must be done, so you may be right.

This is the conundrum radical vegans face and don't answer: what are going to do with the millions of pigs we have stacked in cages inside compunds when we end the meat industry?

As for the mink business, I don't know whether I'd rather be a farm mink or a dead mink. And a lot of people are in outrage in denmark - mostlty because of the poor farmers who lost their livelyhood tho. And to some extend that dead mink has been dumped in visible from the high way unfinished land fills.

Farmed or not, the mutation they carry is a considerable threat.  It is very unfortunate this needed to happen, but the risk of transmission didn't leave much room for a more humane solution.


I don't see any of these mutations being a "threat" to the currently developed vaccines.  These vaccines will still be effective against the strain they target.  More like yet another analogy to the flu where vaccines will need to be updated to keep up with the dominant strains.

What they said on danish new was that so far the mink variant is the first mutation they have seen with changes to the shell of the virus, in particular the spikes. And that's what makes it dangerous, as the shell is what the antibodies interact with. In the meantime corona mutates all the time, but mostly so it's inner body of rna or whatev - I'm not a virologist...

[Resurgence]

ill88eagle,


"Radical" vegans?


I will never perceive compassion for, and awareness of, other creatures to be "radical". Nor would I consider the progression of a human being from a self-centered way of life to a more selfless way of living to be "radical". I consider that to be moral and spiritual development.



Regarding your query over the "conundrum radical vegans face and don't answer".

1.) Vegans are comfortable answering your question and discussing ideas. No one in our community shies away from important topics.

2.) You seem to imply that the perpetuation of slaughter is necessary due to the large number of animals who would suddenly enter into a "refugee" status should slaughtering immediately cease. By stating that, you are assuming that the time frame of change in society in this regard is a short one. That hasn't been the case. All over the globe, societies are changing to more compassionate living. The barometers of the change today are evident - vegan companies are flourishing, more vegan products are coming online, vegan products are more widely available due to demand, vegan restaurants are in every major city of the world (in Prague, for example, there are 117). So, tremendous progress has been made over the last few decades. With that gradual progression, and more and more people redirecting their financial wherewithal from animal-based products to vegan interests, meat and dairy businesses are facing more and more competition. Governments could facilitate that change by shifting subsidies from animal agriculture to vegan, organic food production (veganic = organic vegan).


There is the idea of sanctuaries caring for animals who have escaped the slaughter nightmare. If there can be (x) number of factory farms, why can't there be (x) number of sanctuaries?

If you have societies of compassionate, forward-thinking individuals, anything is possible.





I will share the following story with you as a small example of the positive change that can be made by people who use their heads and feel with their hearts.

This story was published by The Vegan Society, Wednesday, 26 April, 2017.



Vegetarian ‘beef’ farmer Jay has made the first step towards a more ethical and environmentally beneficial future by turning his cow farm into a stock-free one, thanks to the help of The Vegan Society’s Grow Green campaign. This is his, and our, story.

A vegetarian beef farmer is an unlikely thought, but this is exactly the contradiction Jay has been living with since he inherited the family farm.

Jay grew up working with the family’s herd of dairy cows. During this time, he grew to realise that there was much more to these animals than we are led to believe. “I began to see that cows recognise each other, and they’ve got very good memories. They experience a range of emotions – they can be sad, happy, bored or excited. They do also have facial expressions. You can tell what a cow is thinking by looking at them. I’ve even seen cows cry.”

As time went on, Jay made the decision to stop eating meat. He explains, “Cows are conscious of what goes on around them – they have personalities and an inner life. They’re not just units of food. Knowing them personally makes it more difficult to think about eating them.”

As time went on it was plain to see that managing business on a beef farm was out of line with Jay’s personal ethics. But he struggled to see a way out of the situation.

This was until a chance conversation between Jay and Patrick Smith, the owner of Veggies Catering Campaign. The Vegan Society’s volunteer Local Contact for Nottingham, Pat handed over a copy of the society’s Grow Green report, which immediately sparked an interest.

The report was launched 18 months ago and sets out some of the aims and opportunities at the heart of the society’s Grow Green campaign. This long-term initiative aims to influence the government to stop subsidising unsustainable animal farming and support farmers to transition to farming plant protein crops instead. It seeks to address the inherent inefficiency involved in animal farming – after all, growing crops for humans to eat is always going to produce more food than growing crops to first feed to farmed animals.

Jay says, “I think we can change the way we live here, to something more suitable for the future than simply continuing to eat animals. That isn’t a very efficient way of feeding people after all. If I’d been content with what I was doing, I would have brushed off Patrick’s comments and said this is the way the farm works, this is the way things have always been done. But I was very sympathetic, and I decided to do something about it.”

After a phone call to The Vegan Society, staff members organised an initial meeting at Jay’s farm. Jay says, “After that visit, it all started to seem possible.” Discussions began about the fate of the last herd of cows. When winter came, instead of sending them to slaughter he continued to care for them, hoping that a permanent and secure location would be found.

Tom Kuehnel, Campaigns Officer for The Vegan Society, was tasked with finding a home for all of the remaining cows. “It seemed like an impossible task,” says Tom. “There are so many great vegan sanctuaries around the UK, but I wasn’t hopeful about finding somewhere with the space and capacity to take on 90 cows.

“But then I got in touch with Wendy from Hillside Sanctuary in Norfolk – and she said that she was able to take all of them! It was a great moment at The Vegan Society office. Hearing that these cows are going to live out their natural lifespans in a loving environment was a really special moment for us.”

But this is only stage one. Following on from the rescue of the cows, The Vegan Society will help Jay to find a new direction for the farm – one which can support itself without the use of any animals or animal products, and can be profitable in the long-term. We have assembled a team with expertise in stock-free farming to facilitate the farm’s transition, including Iain Tolhurst and the Vegan Organic Network.

This transition signals the beginning of a new future of farming. Currently the industry is in crisis. Farms are closing weekly due to financial pressure, mental health among the farming community is suffering, and consumers are turning away from animal products. We need something to change, to support the UK’s new and changing dietary habits, to help protect the environment, and to secure a stable future for the British farmers.







https://www.vegansociety.com/news/blog/n...ing-future

[ill88eagle]

Well, in Denmark we have a history of radical types who like to go on a mink farm by night and let minks loose on grounds on compassion for animals. What this accomplishes is at best that the mink who have never survived outside a narrow and packed cage die off pretty fast, and a few become scavengers like rats.

Also in denmark: we have 30 million pigs in factory compounds stacked in cages pissing and shitting on each other never seeing the light of day, fed a shit load of antibiotics cause they get sick ALL THE TIME - and resistant bacteria evolve there as a consequence. This is in a tiny country with a population of 5 million humans. I am all for ending the meat (and fur) industry, but where do we unleash the animals? There is literally not enough space for them, and the ecosystem would collapse in less than a year...