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SARS-CoV-2 in a Mink Farm in Italy: Case Description, Molecular and Serological Diagnosis by Comparing Different Tests

2022; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; Volume: 14; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3390/v14081738

1999-4915

Ana Moreno, Davide Lelli, Tiziana Trogu, Antonio Lavazza, Ilaria Barbieri, María Beatrice Boniotti, Giulia Pezzoni, Cristian Salogni, Stefano Giovannini, Giovanni Loris Alborali, Silvia Bellini, M. Boldini, Marco Farioli, Luigi Ruocco, Olivia Bessi, Andrea Ponti, Ilaria Di Bartolo, Luca De Sabato, Gabriele Vaccari, Gabriele Belli, Alberto Margutti, Maurilio Giorgi,

Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology

This study described a SARS-CoV-2 infection in minks on an Italian farm. Surveillance was performed based on clinical examination and a collection of 1879 swabs and 74 sera from dead and live animals. The farm was placed under surveillance for 4.5 months, from the end of July 2020, when a man working on the farm tested positive by RT-PCR, till mid-December 2020 when all the animals were sacrificed. Clinical examination revealed no clinical signs or increased mortality rates attributable to SARS-CoV-2, while diagnostic tests detected only four weak PCR-positive samples, but 100% of sera were positive for SARS-CoV-2 anti-S antibodies. The phylogenetic analysis of two SARS-CoV-2 sequences from two minks and the sequence of the worker showed that they belonged to different clades. It could be therefore assumed that two distinct introductions of the virus occurred on the farm, and that the first introduction probably occurred before the start of the surveillance period. From the data collected, and especially from the detection of specific antibodies through the combination of different tests, it can be postulated that syndromic surveillance combined with genome detection by PCR may not be sufficient to achieve a diagnosis in asymptomatic animals. In particular, the serological approach, especially when using tests directed towards the S protein, may be useful for improving the traceability of virus circulation in similar environments.