Mink, SARS-CoV-2, and the Human-Animal Interface.

Pierre-Edouard Fournier,Didier Raoult,Christian Devaux,Florence Fenollar,Max Maurin,Philippe Colson,Anthony Levasseur,Oleg Mediannikov

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.663815

Abstract

Mink are small carnivores of the Mustelidae family. The American mink is the most common and was imported to Europe, Asia, and Latin America for breeding, as its fur is very popular. Denmark, the Netherlands, and China are the biggest producers of mink. Mink farms with a high population density in very small areas and a low level of genetic heterogeneity are places conducive to contagion. The mink’s receptor for SARS-CoV-2 is very similar to that of humans. Experimental models have shown the susceptibility of the ferret, another mustelid, to become infected with SARS-CoV-2 and to transmit it to other ferrets. On April 23, 2020, for the first time, an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in a mink farm was reported in the Netherlands. Since then, COVID-19 has reached numerous mink farms in the Netherlands, Denmark, United States, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, and Canada. Not only do mink become infected from each other, but also they are capable of infecting humans, including with virus variants that have mutated in mink. Human infection with variant mink viruses with spike mutations led to the culling in Denmark of all mink in the country. Several animals can be infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, anthropo-zoonotic outbreaks have only been reported in mink farms. The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 in mink farms raises questions regarding their potential role at the onset of the pandemic and the impact of mutants on viral fitness, contagiousness, pathogenicity, re-infections with different mutants, immunotherapy, and vaccine efficacy.

Highlights

Since the start of the pandemic, the involvement of animals has been mentioned in its occurrence
In the Netherlands and Denmark, COVID-19 cases were diagnosed among farm workers before infections in mink were detected, suggesting that the animals were infected by humans
After 12 months of pandemic, among all types of farming, anthropo-zoonotic outbreaks have only been reported in mink farms

Summary

Introduction

Since the start of the pandemic, the involvement of animals has been mentioned in its occurrence. Other members of the Mustelidae family such as the American mink (Neovison vison), are in vivo susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and can transmit the virus both to other susceptible animals and to humans. After the first Dutch cases in April, Denmark, the largest European mink pelt producer, reported mink farm infections in May 2020 in the Jutland region (Hammer et al, 2021).

Results

Conclusion