Investigations into SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses on mink farms in France late in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Soon after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the Betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infection of several mink farms breeding American minks (Neovison vison) for fur was detected in various European countries. The risk of a new reservoir being formed and of a reverse zoonosis from minks q...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290444 |
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| author | Marine Wasniewski Franck Boué Céline Richomme Etienne Simon-Lorière Sylvie Van der Werf Flora Donati Vincent Enouf Yannick Blanchard Véronique Beven Estelle Leperchois Bryce Leterrier Sandrine Corbet Meriadeg Le Gouil Elodie Monchatre-Leroy Evelyne Picard-Meyer |
| author_facet | Marine Wasniewski Franck Boué Céline Richomme Etienne Simon-Lorière Sylvie Van der Werf Flora Donati Vincent Enouf Yannick Blanchard Véronique Beven Estelle Leperchois Bryce Leterrier Sandrine Corbet Meriadeg Le Gouil Elodie Monchatre-Leroy Evelyne Picard-Meyer |
| author_sort | Marine Wasniewski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soon after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the Betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infection of several mink farms breeding American minks (Neovison vison) for fur was detected in various European countries. The risk of a new reservoir being formed and of a reverse zoonosis from minks quickly became a major concern. The aim of this study was to investigate the four French mink farms to see whether SARS-CoV-2 was circulating there in late 2020. The investigations took place during the slaughtering period, thus facilitating different types of sampling (swabs and blood). On one of the four mink farms, 96.6% of serum samples were positive when tested with a SARS-CoV-2 ELISA coated with purified N protein recombinant antigen, and 54 out of 162 (33%) pharyngo-tracheal swabs were positive by RT-qPCR. The genetic variability among 12 SARS-CoV-2 genomes sequenced from this farm indicated the co-circulation of several lineages at the time of sampling. All the SARS-CoV-2 genomes detected were nested within the 20A clade (Nextclade), together with SARS-CoV-2 genomes from humans sampled during the same period. The percentage of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity by ELISA varied between 0.3 and 1.1% on the other three farms. Interestingly, among these three farms, 11 pharyngo-tracheal swabs and 3 fecal pools from two farms were positive by end-point RT-PCR for an Alphacoronavirus very similar to a mink coronavirus sequence observed on Danish farms in 2015. In addition, a mink Caliciviridae was identified on one of the two farms positive for Alphacoronavirus. The clinical impact of these inapparent viral infections is not known. The co-infection of SARS-CoV-2 with other viruses on mink farms could help explain the diversity of clinical symptoms noted on different infected farms in Europe. In addition, the co-circulation of an Alphacoronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 on a mink farm would potentially increase the risk of viral recombination between alpha and betacoronaviruses as already suggested in wild and domestic animals, as well as in humans. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cbd0da01ff4b43149f62e0bca06b6ef1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
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| spelling | doaj-art-cbd0da01ff4b43149f62e0bca06b6ef12025-08-23T05:32:21ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01188e029044410.1371/journal.pone.0290444Investigations into SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses on mink farms in France late in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.Marine WasniewskiFranck BouéCéline RichommeEtienne Simon-LorièreSylvie Van der WerfFlora DonatiVincent EnoufYannick BlanchardVéronique BevenEstelle LeperchoisBryce LeterrierSandrine CorbetMeriadeg Le GouilElodie Monchatre-LeroyEvelyne Picard-MeyerSoon after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the Betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infection of several mink farms breeding American minks (Neovison vison) for fur was detected in various European countries. The risk of a new reservoir being formed and of a reverse zoonosis from minks quickly became a major concern. The aim of this study was to investigate the four French mink farms to see whether SARS-CoV-2 was circulating there in late 2020. The investigations took place during the slaughtering period, thus facilitating different types of sampling (swabs and blood). On one of the four mink farms, 96.6% of serum samples were positive when tested with a SARS-CoV-2 ELISA coated with purified N protein recombinant antigen, and 54 out of 162 (33%) pharyngo-tracheal swabs were positive by RT-qPCR. The genetic variability among 12 SARS-CoV-2 genomes sequenced from this farm indicated the co-circulation of several lineages at the time of sampling. All the SARS-CoV-2 genomes detected were nested within the 20A clade (Nextclade), together with SARS-CoV-2 genomes from humans sampled during the same period. The percentage of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity by ELISA varied between 0.3 and 1.1% on the other three farms. Interestingly, among these three farms, 11 pharyngo-tracheal swabs and 3 fecal pools from two farms were positive by end-point RT-PCR for an Alphacoronavirus very similar to a mink coronavirus sequence observed on Danish farms in 2015. In addition, a mink Caliciviridae was identified on one of the two farms positive for Alphacoronavirus. The clinical impact of these inapparent viral infections is not known. The co-infection of SARS-CoV-2 with other viruses on mink farms could help explain the diversity of clinical symptoms noted on different infected farms in Europe. In addition, the co-circulation of an Alphacoronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 on a mink farm would potentially increase the risk of viral recombination between alpha and betacoronaviruses as already suggested in wild and domestic animals, as well as in humans.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290444 |
| spellingShingle | Marine Wasniewski Franck Boué Céline Richomme Etienne Simon-Lorière Sylvie Van der Werf Flora Donati Vincent Enouf Yannick Blanchard Véronique Beven Estelle Leperchois Bryce Leterrier Sandrine Corbet Meriadeg Le Gouil Elodie Monchatre-Leroy Evelyne Picard-Meyer Investigations into SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses on mink farms in France late in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS ONE |
| title | Investigations into SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses on mink farms in France late in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_full | Investigations into SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses on mink farms in France late in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_fullStr | Investigations into SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses on mink farms in France late in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigations into SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses on mink farms in France late in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_short | Investigations into SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses on mink farms in France late in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| title_sort | investigations into sars cov 2 and other coronaviruses on mink farms in france late in the first year of the covid 19 pandemic |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290444 |
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