key: cord-0887091-ojqu795n
authors: Virtanen, Jenni; Aaltonen, Kirsi; Kegler, Kristel; Venkat, Vinaya; Niamsap, Thanakorn; Kareinen, Lauri; Malmgren, Rasmus; Kivelä, Olga; Atanasova, Nina; Österlund, Pamela; Smura, Teemu; Sukura, Antti; Strandin, Tomas; Dutra, Lara; Vapalahti, Olli; Nordgren, Heli; Kant, Ravi; Sironen, Tarja
title: Experimental infection of mink with SARS-COV-2 Omicron (BA.1) variant leads to symptomatic disease with lung pathology and transmission
date: 2022-02-23
journal: bioRxiv
DOI: 10.1101/2022.02.16.480524
sha: 37baa856abcfff03a00099c3536dcd663216c389
doc_id: 887091
cord_uid: ojqu795n

We report an experimental infection of American mink with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant and show that minks remain virus RNA positive for days, develop clinical signs and histopathological changes, and transmit the virus to uninfected recipients warranting further studies and preparedness.

characterized by possibly milder symptoms and more efficient human-to-human transmission, was 24 detected, but its infectivity and spread in American mink in unknown (6, 7). 25 We tested the response of the American mink to the Omicron variant by infecting three male mink 26 intranasally with 4 × 10 5 PFU of the virus (see Appendix for methods). Infected minks were 27 followed for seven days, sampled daily for saliva, and subjected to histopathological evaluation of 28 upper and lower respiratory tracts on the last day of follow-up. 29 All experimentally infected mink showed mild to moderate signs of illness including lethargy, 

To study if mink can transmit the virus, two minks were used as uninfected recipients in separate 37 cages located 10-20 cm away from the cages of the infected mink and followed for ten days. Both 38 recipients developed similar symptoms to the experimentally infected mink and were consistently 39 PCR positive from day three onwards (Table) , indicating mink-to-mink transmission. Even though Table: PCR results from saliva of three experimentally infected mink and two uninfected recipient mink Mink Id 1 dpi 2 dpi 3 dpi 4 dpi 5 dpi 6 dpi 7 dpi 8 dpi 9 dpi 10 dpi 

First Description of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Two Feral American Mink (Neovison vison) Caught in 117 the Wild. Animals (Basel)

SARS-CoV-2 infection in farmed minks, the Netherlands

Zoonotic spill-over of SARS-CoV-2: mink-adapted virus in humans

Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Farmed Mink (Neovison vison), Poland. Emerg Infect Dis

CoV-2 Transmission between Mink (Neovison vison) and Humans, Denmark. Emerg Infect Dis

Rapid epidemic 130 expansion of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in southern Africa

Early assessment of the 132 clinical severity of the SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant in South Africa: a data linkage study

Severe acute 135 respiratory disease in American mink (Neovison vison) experimentally infected with SARS-CoV-2

Integrated histopathological, lipidomic, and 138 metabolomic profiles reveal mink is a useful animal model to mimic the pathogenicity of severe COVID-19 139 patients

SARS-CoV-141 2 Omicron virus causes attenuated disease in mice and hamsters

We thank animal Jari Elemo and Mari Elemo and other animal care takers for