Are Mink with COVID-19 in Netherlands also infected with African Swine Fever Virus?

Mink in Netherlands are infected with the COVID-19 virus. Are they also infected with African Swine Fever Virus, which can infect mink? Is a novel strain of African Swine Fever now circulating in the Netherlands? Are pigs in the Netherlands infected with SARS-CoV-2?

Mink May Have  Infected a Human with Covid-19, Dutch Authorities Believe
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/minks-may-have-infected-a-human-with-covid-19-dutch-authorities-believe/ar-BB14mQeR

Susceptibility of Mink to Certain Viral Animal Diseases Foreign to the United States

S P Sahu, A H Dardiri

• PMID: 228092
• DOI: 10.7589/0090-3558-15.3.489

Abstract

Mink (Mustela vison) were inoculated with viruses: African horse sickness (AHS), African swine fever (ASF), bovine herpes virus II (BHV2), foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), goat pox (GP), hog cholera (HC), peste des petits ruminants (PPR), rinderpest (RP), swine vesicular disease (SVD), vesicular exanthema of swine (VES) and vesicular stomatitis (VS). Their susceptibility was measured by development of clinical signs, virus isolation and detection of precipitin and/or virus neutralizing antibodies. SVD virus produced a lesion in one mink. Virus was isolated from mink inoculated with SVD, FMD and BHV2. Neutralizing and/or precipitin antibodies were detected in mink inoculated with ASF, FMD, GP, RP, SVD and VS viruses. Mink were not susceptible to AHS, HC, PPR and VES viruses. 

Susceptibility of Mink to Certain Viral Animal Diseases Foreign to the United States - PubMed

Long Before Covid-19, What was Happening All Over China?

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that destroyed the lungs.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that caused fevers.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that caused multisystemic inflammation.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that caused a fatal cytokine storm.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that caused vasculitis.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that damages the heart.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that damages the kidneys.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that damages the liver.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that affects the spleen.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that affects the tonsils.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that affects the lymph nodes.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that caused hypoxia.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that affected macrophages.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that caused immune suppression.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that resulted in multiple secondary infections.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that affected the natural killer cells.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that affected the dendritic cells.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that affected the epithelial cells.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that affected the CD4 cells.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that caused rashes.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that caused petechiae.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that caused an elevation of IL-6, IL-10, TNF and IP-10.

Long before Covid-19 there was a disease all over China that caused thrombosis.

Long before Covid-19, that disease, which caused the loss of half of China’s four hundred million pigs, was African Swine Fever, the multisystemic inflammatory disease that strikes fear in the heart of every agricultural researcher and farmer all over the world. If SARS-CoV-2 had never been identified as the cause of Covid-19, African Swine Fever would have been the painfully obvious leading suspect. Is it still possible that African Swine Fever is a co-infection or cofactor in Covid-19? Why have scientists not looked for known and novel strains of African Swine Fever in Covid-19 patients? And given that millions of pigs throughout China had African Swine Fever with all the immunological destruction it causes, why hasn’t China considered the possibility that SARS-Cov-2 is just one of the many coinfections of immunologically-challenged pigs with African Swine Fever in Wuhan, Hubei, and the rest of China?

Anyone who says that people cannot become infected with African Swine Fever has only a partial knowledge of the science. They are not aware of all the public health warnings about the evolving nature of zoonotic diseases. In 2009, scientists discovered novel sequences related to African Swine Fever in human serum and sewage. In their abstract they concluded, “The family Asfarviridae contains only a single virus species, African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASFV is a viral agent with significant economic impact due to its devastating effects on populations of domesticated pigs during outbreaks but has not been reported to infect humans. We report here the discovery of novel viral sequences in human serum and sewage which are clearly related to the asfarvirus family but highly divergent from ASFV. Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among asfarviruses than previously thought and raises the possibility that human infection by asfarviruses may occur.” (Source)

Two recent questionable experiments involving Covid-19 and pigs really constitute “beating around the bush.” One experiment in Germany unsuccessfully tried to infect pigs with SARS-Cov-2 and another one in India projected that pigs could not be infected based on a computer model. Research that does not “beat around the bush” would simply test pigs for SARS-Cov-19. The first papers that came out about SARS-Cov-2 noted that pigs have ACE2 receptors, so it will not come as a surprise to at least some scientists if it turns out that pigs are intermediate vectors of SARS-Cov-2. (Source #1, Source #2) One study concluded, “Due to the large number of infected people  often with high virus loads, SARS-CoV-2 could potentially spill over in other species including pigs and this should be monitored closely.” (Source)

But the bigger issue with enormous public health consequences is the question of whether African Swine Fever virus is an unidentified cofactor or coinfection of SARS-Cov-2 in Covid-19. The more alarming question is whether SARS-Cov-2 is a secondary infection and the mysterious nature of the emerging epidemic is a mystery caused by a major paradigm mistake which is the result of blaming the wrong pathogen for our international medical crisis. Science goes down the wrong path all the time and courageously corrects itself. Could African Swine fever be the Black Swan of Covid-19? Are we due for a midcourse correction in our understanding of Covid-19?

If China will not test the pigs in Wuhan and Hubei for SARS-Cov-2, then perhaps scientists in Italy and the USA can step in. The area most affected by COVID-19 in northern Italy is densely populated by domestic pigs. And then there is the curious issue of the pork production facilities in the USA that are hotspots for COVID-19. Doesn’t prudence demand that pigs in those facilities be tested both for SARS-Cov-2 and novel strains of African Swine Fever?

Recent research has identified twenty-four respiratory coinfections in Covid-19 patients. Isn’t it time to make the search for coinfections and cofactors deeper and broader? Should Covid-19 patients be tested with something like the ViroChip for every known and possibly novel infection? Of course, it is possible that African Swine Fever has nothing to do with Covid-19. But in this evolving disaster, no stone should be left unturned. One thing is clear: Anyone who says that what happens pathologically in African Swine Fever and Covid-19 is not similar is just not paying attention.