title: Molecular epidemiology of Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV) in Estonia, and a global phylogeny of AMDV.
abstract: Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV) causes a severe disease called Aleutian disease (AD). AMDV infects primarily mustelids, but also other mammal species. Recent evidence suggests that AMDV may also affect humans. To examine AMDV in different wild animals and in farmed mink in Estonia, we collected 203 blood samples from eight mammal species in 2007-2010, of which 152 were from species living in the wild (American mink, European mink, pine marten, polecat, raccoon dog, badger, otter, and stone marten) and 51 were from farmed mink. AMDV was tested by PCR amplification of NS1 and VP2 gene fragments, and was only detected in 4 free-ranging (14.8%) and 11 farmed (21.6%) American mink. No other species was positive for AMDV. In addition, the VP2 gene fragment was sequenced for 14 farmed mink isolates from Finland for which NS1 sequences were already publicly available. None of the four Estonian AMDV isolates found in free-ranging mink had identical sequences with farmed mink. In fact, isolates from free-ranging and farmed mink belonged to different clades, suggesting that the analyzed virus isolates circulating in nature are not from escapees of current farms. Two global phylogenies were built: one based on NS1 (336 bp, 151 taxa from nine countries); the other based on a combined NS1-VP2 dataset (871 bp, 40 taxa from six countries). AMDV genotypes did not cluster according to their geographic origin, suggesting that transport of farm mink from multiple source farms has been intense. Nevertheless, one subclade in both phylogenies was comprised solely of isolates from farmed mink, while several subclades comprised isolates only from free-ranging mink, indicating that some isolates may circulate more in the wild and others among farm animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, 51014 Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Aivi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leimann
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knuuttila
authors.affiliation: Species Conservation Lab, Tallinn Zoological Gardens, Tallinn, Estonia; Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 62, 51014 Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Tiit
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maran
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Olli
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vapalahti
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, 51014 Tartu, Estonia. Electronic address: Urmas.Saarma@ut.ee.
authors.forename: Urmas
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Saarma
mesh_terms: D000453:Aleutian Mink Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D000454:Aleutian Mink Disease Virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D000835:Animals, Wild; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004957:Estonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D014943:Global Health; D008907:Mink; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Aleutian mink disease virus; Estonia; Finland; NS1; Phylogenetic analysis; VP2