Seroprevalence and Molecular Epidemiology of Aleutian Disease in Various Countries during 1972–2021: A Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Aleutian disease (AD) poses a serious threat to both free-ranging and farmed mink around the world. The disease is caused by the Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV), which also poses a health risk for other members of the family Mustelidae, including wild mink, weasels, badgers and other animal species. This article analyses the seroprevalence of AMDV infections in mink and other species around the world, and reviews recent knowledge relating to the molecular epidemiology of the AMDV. Depending on the applied diagnostic technique and the country, the prevalence of anti-AMDV antibodies or AMDV DNA was established at 21.60–100.00% in farmed American mink, 0.00–93.30% in free-ranging American mink and 0.00–25.00% in European mink. Anti-AMDV antibodies or AMDV DNA were also detected in other free-living fur-bearing animals in Europe and Canada, where their prevalence was determined at 0.00–32.00% and 0.00–70.50%, respectively. This may indicate a potential threat to various animal species. AMDV strains are not clustered into genotypes based on the geographic origin, year of isolation or pathogenicity. The isolates that were identified on mink farms around the world originated from North America because American mink were introduced to Europe and Asia for breeding purposes and to restock natural populations.

Does Aleutian Disease Occur among Domestic Ferrets in Poland? Results of Preliminary Studies Conducted in Two Regions of Poland

“…For many years, it was believed that Aleutian disease affects only ferrets and minks, but there is more and more information that this virus occurs in other animal species, such as: ermine, marten, and lynx [ 14 , 15 ]. Alexanderesen et al [ 16 ] demonstrated that experimental infection with specific antibodies developed was possible in dogs, raccoons, cats, mice, rabbits and foxes, but viral replication occurred only in raccoons and dogs.…”

“…Although the described cases of the disease were sporadic, monitoring Aleutian disease in both minks and ferrets seems justified, as the presence of a larger population of these animals in close proximity to humans may lead to a permanent break of the species barrier. On the other hand, in our opinion, of more concern is the fact that this virus can infect many carnivores (including canine-fox and feline-lynx) and may pose a threat to both domestic animals and endangered wild species [ 15 ].…”

A new perspective on the evolution and diversity of the genus Amdoparvovirus (family Parvoviridae) through genetic characterization, structural homology modeling, and phylogenetics

“…To the best of our knowledge, this virus has never been reported outside of Canada or the USA. On the contrary, AMDV has been reported globally and its molecular epidemiology has been investigated extensively in farmed animals and somewhat among wild animal populations (reviewed in ( Zaleska-Wawro et al. 2021 )).…”

“…2021 )). The spread of AMDV as a direct consequence of fur animal import/export caused the same viral strains to circulate globally not only in farms, but also among free-ranging and wild mustelids since viruses are frequently exchanged between farms and wildlife ( Zaleska-Wawro et al. 2021 ).…”

“…Furthermore, while the parvovirus classification is based on the phylogenetic analysis and sequence comparisons of NS1 protein sequences ( Pénzes et al. 2020 ), several older studies (reviewed in ( Zaleska-Wawro et al. 2021 )) investigating the diversity of AMDV focused on VP2 or compared only partial sequences.…”