tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Front Vet Sci
. 2022 Jan 21;8:805004.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.805004. eCollection 2021.
SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak on a Spanish Mink Farm: Epidemiological, Molecular, and Pathological Studies
Juan José Badiola[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alicia Otero[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Eloisa Sevilla[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Belén Marín[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mirta García Martínez[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marina Betancor[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Diego Sola[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sonia Pérez Lázaro[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jenny Lozada[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Carolina Velez[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Álvaro Chiner-Oms[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Iñaki Comas[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Irving Cancino-Muñoz[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Eva Monleón[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marta Monzón[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Cristina Acín[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rosa Bolea[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Bernardino Moreno[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Farmed minks have been reported to be highly susceptible to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and may represent a risk to humans. In this study, we describe the first outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 occurred on a mink farm in Spain, between June and July 2020, involving 92,700 animals. The outbreak started shortly after some farm workers became seropositive for SARS-CoV-2. Minks showed no clinical signs compatible with SARS-CoV-2 infection throughout the outbreak. Samples from 98 minks were collected for histopathological, serological, and molecular studies. Twenty out of 98 (20.4%) minks were positive by RT-qPCR and 82 out 92 (89%) seroconverted. This finding may reflect a rapid spread of the virus at the farm with most of the animals overcoming the infection. Additionally, SARS-CoV-2 was detected by RT-qPCR in 30% of brain samples from positive minks. Sequencing analysis showed that the mink sequences were not closely related with the other mink SARS-CoV-2 sequences available, and that this mink outbreak has its probable origin in one of the genetic variants that were prevalent in Spain during the first COVID-19 epidemic wave. Histological studies revealed bronchointerstitial pneumonia in some animals. Immunostaining of viral nucleocapsid was also observed in nasal turbinate tissue. Farmed minks could therefore constitute an important SARS-CoV-2 reservoir, contributing to virus spread among minks and humans. Consequently, continuous surveillance of mink farms is needed.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; Spain; antibodies; mink; polymerase chain reaction; sequence.
. 2022 Jan 21;8:805004.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.805004. eCollection 2021.
SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak on a Spanish Mink Farm: Epidemiological, Molecular, and Pathological Studies
Juan José Badiola[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alicia Otero[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Eloisa Sevilla[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Belén Marín[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mirta García Martínez[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marina Betancor[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Diego Sola[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sonia Pérez Lázaro[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jenny Lozada[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Carolina Velez[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Álvaro Chiner-Oms[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Iñaki Comas[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Irving Cancino-Muñoz[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Eva Monleón[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marta Monzón[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Cristina Acín[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rosa Bolea[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Bernardino Moreno[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35127883
- PMCID: PMC8814420
- DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.805004
Abstract
Farmed minks have been reported to be highly susceptible to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and may represent a risk to humans. In this study, we describe the first outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 occurred on a mink farm in Spain, between June and July 2020, involving 92,700 animals. The outbreak started shortly after some farm workers became seropositive for SARS-CoV-2. Minks showed no clinical signs compatible with SARS-CoV-2 infection throughout the outbreak. Samples from 98 minks were collected for histopathological, serological, and molecular studies. Twenty out of 98 (20.4%) minks were positive by RT-qPCR and 82 out 92 (89%) seroconverted. This finding may reflect a rapid spread of the virus at the farm with most of the animals overcoming the infection. Additionally, SARS-CoV-2 was detected by RT-qPCR in 30% of brain samples from positive minks. Sequencing analysis showed that the mink sequences were not closely related with the other mink SARS-CoV-2 sequences available, and that this mink outbreak has its probable origin in one of the genetic variants that were prevalent in Spain during the first COVID-19 epidemic wave. Histological studies revealed bronchointerstitial pneumonia in some animals. Immunostaining of viral nucleocapsid was also observed in nasal turbinate tissue. Farmed minks could therefore constitute an important SARS-CoV-2 reservoir, contributing to virus spread among minks and humans. Consequently, continuous surveillance of mink farms is needed.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; Spain; antibodies; mink; polymerase chain reaction; sequence.