No Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Wild Mink (Mustela lutreola and Neogale vison) from Northern Spain during the First Two Years of Pandemic

Sergio Villanueva-Saz; Jacobo Giner; Ana María Palomar; María Asunción Gómez; Madis Põdra; María Del Carmen Aranda; María de Los Ángeles Jiménez; Patricia Lizarraga; Raquel Hernández; Aránzazu Portillo; José Antonio Oteo; Ignacio Ruíz-Arrondo; María Dolores Pérez; Ana Pilar Tobajas; Maite Verde; Delia Lacasta; Diana Marteles; Ramón Hurtado-Guerrero; Llipsy Santiago; Héctor Ruíz; Antonio Fernández

doi:10.3390/ani12151971

No Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Wild Mink (Mustela lutreola and Neogale vison) from Northern Spain during the First Two Years of Pandemic

Animals (Basel). 2022 Aug 3;12(15):1971. doi: 10.3390/ani12151971.

Authors

Sergio Villanueva-Saz^{1

2

3}, Jacobo Giner^{1

2}, Ana María Palomar⁴, María Asunción Gómez⁵, Madis Põdra⁵, María Del Carmen Aranda⁶, María de Los Ángeles Jiménez⁷, Patricia Lizarraga⁸, Raquel Hernández⁵, Aránzazu Portillo⁴, José Antonio Oteo⁴, Ignacio Ruíz-Arrondo⁴, María Dolores Pérez^{3

9}, Ana Pilar Tobajas⁹, Maite Verde^{1

2

3}, Delia Lacasta^{1

3}, Diana Marteles¹, Ramón Hurtado-Guerrero^{10

11

12

13}, Llipsy Santiago¹⁴, Héctor Ruíz^{1

3}, Antonio Fernández^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain.
² Clinical Immunology Laboratory, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain.
³ Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain.
⁴ Infectious Diseases Department, Center of Rickettsiosis and Arthropod-Borne Diseases (CRETAV), San Pedro University Hospital-Center of Biomedical Research from La Rioja (CIBIR), Piqueras 98, 26006 Logroño, Spain.
⁵ Tragsatec, Tragsatec, Division of Environmental Services, Julian Camarillo 6A-4A Planta, Sector B, 28037 Madrid, Spain.
⁶ Fundación para la Investigación en Etología y Biodiversidad, 45950 Toledo, Spain.
⁷ Departamento Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Av. Puerta de Hierro s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
⁸ Centro de Recuperación de Fauna de Martioda, Martioda Entitatea 3, 01191 Martioda, Spain.
⁹ Department of Animal Production and Sciences of the Food, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain.
¹⁰ Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), Mariano Esquillor s/n, Campus Rio Ebro, Edificio I+D, University of Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain.
¹¹ Aragon I+D Foundation (ARAID), 50018 Zaragoza, Spain.
¹² Laboratorio de Microscopías Avanzada (LMA), University of Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain.
¹³ Copenhagen Center for Glycomics, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁴ Aragon Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón), 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.

Abstract

The impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on wildlife is largely unevaluated, and extended surveillance of animal species is needed to reach a consensus on the role of animals in the emergence and maintenance of SARS-CoV-2. This infection has been detected in farmed and domestic animals and wild animals, mainly in captivity. The interactions or shared resources with wildlife could represent a potential transmission pathway for the SARS-CoV-2 spill over to other wild species and could lead to health consequences or the establishment of new reservoirs in susceptible hosts. This study evaluated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in European mink (Mustela lutreola) and American mink (Neogale vison) in Spain by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the receptor binding domain (RBD) of Spike antigen in serum samples and/or by RT-qPCR assays in oropharyngeal and rectal swabs. From January 2020 to February 2022, a total of 162 animals (127 European mink and 35 American mink) with no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection were included in the study. Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 were not found in the serum samples analysed (n = 126), nor was the virus amplified by RT-qPCR (n = 160 swabs). Our results suggest that the potential role of wild mink and the European mink bred in captivity and released to the wild as dispersers of SARS-CoV-2 is so far low. However, wildlife surveillance for early detection of human and animal risks should be continued. In this sense, epidemiological monitoring measures, including serology and molecular analysis, are necessary.

Keywords: ELISA; RT-qPCR; SARS-CoV-2; Spain; coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); mink; serology.

Abstract

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