SARS-CoV-2 Infection Pathology in Farmed Minks

A study of 45 farmed minks naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2, divided into four clinical health groups. It investigates pathology, virology, and serology, finding interstitial pneumonia and systemic viral spread even in asymptomatic animals. Over 57% of the minks were co-infected with Aleutian Disease Virus.

Use Cases

• Analyze interstitial pneumonia severity across the FD, NCSc, CSc, and FDc clinical health groups from histopathological data.
• Correlate viral RNA levels from nasal swabs, throat swabs, and lung tissues with clinical status and serology results.
• Investigate co-infection patterns by examining the prevalence of Aleutian Disease Virus (ADV) via qPCR data across the mink groups.
• Study viral antigen expression in extra-respiratory tissues like the intestine, spleen, and lymph nodes to understand systemic spread.

Strengths

• Data from 45 minks provides a controlled cohort for comparing four distinct clinical health status groups.
• Findings are supported by multiple analytical methods: histopathology, immunohistochemistry, virology, serology, and proteomics.
• The study reports a specific co-infection rate, with over 57% of minks testing positive for Aleutian Disease Virus.

Limitations

• The dataset is small, with only 45 animals, limiting statistical power for subgroup analyses.
• Data is contained in a narrative DOCX file, requiring manual extraction for quantitative analysis.
• Geographic scope is limited to a single infected farm in the Netherlands, which may not represent all mink populations.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Sandra Vreman.

Collection Method

Pathological, immunohistochemical, virological, and serological investigation of minks from an infected farm.

Time Range

Study period not specified, but related to 2020 SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in minks.

Freshness

Last updated in March 2026, indicating recent curation.

Geography

Netherlands (a farm infected with SARS-CoV-2).