Application of molecular methods to the study of infectious diseases in the mink industry

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The mink fur trade is one of the oldest Canadian industries and it represents a considerable proportion of Canada's resource-based economy. It also provides many jobs and is an important source of employment for people in rural areas. A high quality and sufficient quantity of fur products are required to ensure success in the fur trade. To achieve this, mink farming necessitates a large number of healthy animals in a fairly restricted space. However, in these conditions, introduction of an infectious agent results in optimal circumstances for rapid spread and persistence. This can result in a large number of individuals being simultaneously infected, with serious consequences for animal health and productivity. Consequent high mortality, decrease in animal and pelt size, smaller litter size and reduced breeding activities can result in economic damage. Several microbes are known to cause significant problems for mink farms and the most important of these is the Aleutian mink disease virus. Other viruses are known to cause sporadic epidemics, such as the distemper and enteritis viruses that cause severe disease of the nervous and gastrointestinal systems, respectively. One purpose of this research project is to perform surveillance, in both farmed and wild animals, for these endemic viral pathogens that are known to negatively affect the mink farming industry in Canada, and to monitor for the emergence of potentially dangerous sporadic epidemics caused by less prevalent agents. By studying the genomes of these viruses we will be able to identify how they emerge, evolve and spread within and between farms and the wild reservoir. Another important disease frequently observed in mink farms is footpad necrosis, for which the causative agent remains unknown. Another purpose of this research project will be dedicated to identifying the cause of this disease using molecular-based pathogen identification, which will be the first step towards disease prevention. Better understanding of these farmed and wild animal pathogens will contribute to efforts to limit the infectious disease in these animals and will result in obvious improvements for this industry in terms of animal health, production and consequent economic growth in Canada.