JCI Insight (Nov 2022)

Severe acute respiratory disease in American mink experimentally infected with SARS-CoV-2

  • Danielle R. Adney,
  • Jamie Lovaglio,
  • Jonathan E. Schulz,
  • Claude Kwe Yinda,
  • Victoria A. Avanzato,
  • Elaine Haddock,
  • Julia R. Port,
  • Myndi G. Holbrook,
  • Patrick W. Hanley,
  • Greg Saturday,
  • Dana Scott,
  • Carl Shaia,
  • Andrew M. Nelson,
  • Jessica R. Spengler,
  • Cassandra Tansey,
  • Caitlin M. Cossaboom,
  • Natalie M. Wendling,
  • Craig Martens,
  • John Easley,
  • Seng Wai Yap,
  • Stephanie N. Seifert,
  • Vincent J. Munster

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 22

Abstract

Read online

An animal model that fully recapitulates severe COVID-19 presentation in humans has been a top priority since the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. Although multiple animal models are available for mild to moderate clinical disease, models that develop severe disease are still needed. Mink experimentally infected with SARS-CoV-2 developed severe acute respiratory disease, as evident by clinical respiratory disease, radiological, and histological changes. Virus was detected in nasal, oral, rectal, and fur swabs. Deep sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 from oral swabs and lung tissue samples showed repeated enrichment for a mutation in the gene encoding nonstructural protein 6 in open reading frame 1ab. Together, these data indicate that American mink develop clinical features characteristic of severe COVID-19 and, as such, are uniquely suited to test viral countermeasures.

Keywords