SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Farmed Minks: Pathology and Virology Data

A 2020 study from the Netherlands analyzes 45 farmed minks naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2, divided into four groups based on clinical status and time of sampling. It includes data on histopathology, viral antigen expression, viral RNA levels, serology, proteomics, and Aleutian Disease Virus co-infection. The findings detail lung pathology and systemic viral spread, including in asymptomatic animals.

Use Cases

• Analyze the correlation between clinical health status groups (FD, NCSc, CSc, FDc) and histopathological findings like interstitial pneumonia severity.
• Investigate viral RNA level distributions across sampled tissues (nasal swabs, throat swabs, lung, spleen, liver, intestine) to model organ-specific viral load.
• Study the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody serology results and the presence of co-infection with Aleutian Disease Virus (ADV) via qPCR data.
• Compare viral antigen expression patterns in respiratory tissues (nose, trachea, lungs) versus extra-respiratory tissues (intestine, spleen, lymph nodes).
• Use immune-related proteomics data from whole blood to assess differences, or lack thereof, between the defined clinical status groups.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a controlled study of 45 minks with detailed group stratification (FD=15, NCSc=10, CSc=10, FDc=10).
• Includes multi-modal measurements: histopathology, immunohistochemistry, virology (RNA levels), serology, proteomics, and ADV co-infection status.
• Findings are specific to natural SARS-CoV-2 infection in a relevant animal model, with clear implications for zoonotic risk assessment.

Limitations

• The dataset is small, with only 45 animal subjects, limiting statistical power for subgroup analyses.
• Data is presented in a DOCX document (2.3 MB), requiring manual extraction for quantitative analysis, not as a ready-to-use structured table.
• Geographic coverage 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, serological, and proteomic analysis of minks from an infected farm, divided into four clinical health status groups.

Time Range

2020, during the initial SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in farmed minks.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-03-24.

Geography

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