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

Lukasz Rabalski; Maciej Kosinski; Natalia Mazur-Panasiuk; Boguslaw Szewczyk; Krystyna Bienkowska-Szewczyk; Ravi Kant; Tarja Sironen; Krzysztof Pyrc; Maciej Grzybek

doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2021.12.001

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

Clin Microbiol Infect. 2022 Mar;28(3):451.e1-451.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2021.12.001. Epub 2021 Dec 15.

Authors

Lukasz Rabalski¹, Maciej Kosinski¹, Natalia Mazur-Panasiuk², Boguslaw Szewczyk¹, Krystyna Bienkowska-Szewczyk¹, Ravi Kant³, Tarja Sironen³, Krzysztof Pyrc⁴, Maciej Grzybek⁵

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Biotechnology of University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland.
² Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
³ Department of Virology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Electronic address: k.a.pyrc@uj.edu.pl.
⁵ Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdynia, Poland. Electronic address: maciej.grzybek@gumed.edu.pl.

Abstract

Objectives: This work aimed to analyse possible zoonotic spill-over of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We report the spill-over of mink-adapted SARS-CoV-2 from farmed mink to humans after adaptation that lasted at least 3 months.

Methods: Next-generation sequencing and a bioinformatic approach were applied to analyse the data.

Results: In an isolate obtained from an asymptomatic patient testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, we found four distinguishing mutations in the S gene that gave rise to the mink-adapted variant (G75V, M177T, Y453F, and C1247F) and others.

Conclusions: Zoonotic spill-over of SARS-CoV-2 can occur from mink to human.

Keywords: Mink; SARS-CoV-2; Spill-over; Transmission; Zoonoses.

MeSH terms

Animals
COVID-19* / veterinary
Farms
Humans
Mink
SARS-CoV-2* / genetics
Zoonoses