Influenza A Virus Surveillance in the Invasive American Mink (Neovison vison) from Freshwater Ecosystems,Northern Spain |
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| Authors: | H. Gholipour N. Busquets X. Fernández‐Aguilar A. Sánchez M. P. Ribas G. De Pedro P. Lizarraga O. Alarcia‐Alejos C. Temiño O. Cabezón |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran;2. Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain;3. IRTA, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA‐IRTA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain;4. UAB, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA‐IRTA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain;5. Servicio de Virología, Laboratorio Central de Veterinaria, Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Gobierno de Espa?a, Algete, Madrid, Spain;6. Centro de Recuperación de Animales Silvestres de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain;7. Martioda Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Martioda, álava, Spain;8. Dirección General del Medio Natural, Consejería de Fomento y Medio Ambiente, Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid, Spain;9. Servicio Territorial de Medio Ambiente, Consejería de Fomento y Medio Ambiente, Junta de Castilla y León, Burgos, Spain |
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| Abstract: | Influenza A viruses (IAVs) are negative‐sense, single‐stranded and segmented RNA viruses of the Orthomyxoviridae family that may cause acute respiratory disease in a wide range of birds and mammals. Susceptibility of several species within the family Mustelidae to IAVs has been reported as a result of natural or experimental infections. The objectives of this study were to assess whether free‐ranging American mink populations from Northern Spain were infected with IAV and try to define the role of this species in the epidemiology of IAV. Sera from 689 American mink from Northern Spain captured between 2011 and 2014 were tested for the presence of antibodies against IAVs using a commercial competition cELISA. Positive sera were further analysed with haemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. Fifteen of the 689 (2.2%, 1.3–3.6 CI95%) of the American minks analysed were ELISA positive. No significant differences were observed between years of capture, provinces, river basins, sexes or ages of the animals. All seropositive sera resulted negative to the panel strains used in the HI assay, showing that the most relevant strains circulating in swine, the most relevant avian subtypes (H5 and H7) and the H10N4 subtype isolated in minks have not been circulating in this free‐ranging exotic carnivore from Spain. In the light of these results, the free‐range American mink from Northern Spain do not seem to have an important role in the epidemiology of IAVs. |
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| Keywords: | American Mink influenza
Neovison vison
Spain |
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