First Description of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Two Feral American Mink (Neovison vison) Caught in the Wild
Aguiló-Gisbert, Jordi (Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera. Servicio de Análisis, Investigación, Gestión de Animales Silvestres)
Padilla-Blanco, Miguel (Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera. Departamento de Farmacia)
Lizana, Victor (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Maiques, Elisa (Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera. Departamento de Ciencias Biomédicas)
Muñoz-Baquero, Marta (Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera. Servicio de Análisis, Investigación, Gestión de Animales Silvestres)
Chillida-Martínez, Eva (Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera. Servicio de Análisis, Investigación, Gestión de Animales Silvestres)
Cardells-Peris, Jesús (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Rubio-Guerri, Consuelo (Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera. Departamento de Farmacia)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	COVID-19 is one of the most important pandemics in recent history. It is an emerging infectious disease, probably of animal origin. Several domesticated and non-domesticated animals are naturally susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, including Mustelidae, of which mink is the first species identified to suffer from this infection. We report herein the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA in lymph node tissue from two feral American mink (Neovison vison) trapped in the wild in the Valencian Community (Eastern Spain) during invasive species trapping campaigns. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causal agent of COVID-19, is considered a pathogen of animal origin that is mainly transmitted from human to human. Several animal species can be naturally or experimentally infected by SARS-CoV-2, with compelling evidence that mink is highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Human-to-mink infection cases have been reported and there are also suggestions that mink-to-human infection occurs. Mink infections have been reported to date only on fur farms, except for one infected free- ranging wild mink near a Utah (USA) fur farm, which suggests a transmission pathway from farms to wild mink. We now report the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in 2 of 13 feral dark brown American mink (Neovison vison) trapped in the Valencian Community (Eastern Spain), during an invasive species trapping campaign. They were trapped in riverbeds in sparsely inhabited rural areas known to harbor self-sustained feral mink populations. The closest fur farm is about 20 km away. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected by two-step RT-PCR in these animals' mesenteric lymph nodes and was confirmed by sequencing a 397-nucleotide amplified region of the S gene, yielding identical sequences in both animals. A molecular phylogenetic analysis was run on this sequence, which was found to correspond to the consensus SARS-CoV-2 sequence from Wuhan. Our findings appear to represent the first example of SARS-CoV-2 acquired in the wild by feral mink in self-sustained populations.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	American mink ; COVID-19 ; Neovison vison ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Spike ; Wildlife
Published in:	Animals, Vol. 11 (may 2021) , ISSN 2076-2615

DOI: 10.3390/ani11051422
PMID: 34065657

13 p, 2.6 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Research group Wildlife Ecology & Health
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles