{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:21:35Z","timestamp":1760059295299,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]],"date-time":"2025-06-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748822400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100011033","name":"Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigaci\u00f3n-MICIN","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PID2020-120322RB-C21"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PID2020-120322RB-C21"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100011033","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the zoonotic virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has caused global health and economic disruption. American mink (Neovison vison) are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and capable of transmitting it to both mink and humans. We previously reported the first detection of SARS-CoV-2 in feral mink, with two positive cases among 13 animals in the upper courses of two rivers in the Valencian Community, eastern Spain. Here, we expand that study with 60 additional feral mink sampled from November 2020 to May 2022. Four new positives were identified by two-step RT-PCR assay on necropsy samples, including nasal and rectal swabs, lung tissue, lymph nodes, and fetuses from three pregnant females. In total, six of 73 mink tested positive, all with low viral loads. Sanger sequencing confirmed infection and revealed clustering with the B.1.177 and Alpha variants. Body weight and reproductive status analyses indicated seasonal breeding and high population turnover, consistent with other wild mink populations. Our findings reveal that SARS-CoV-2 circulation is limited in feral mink, at least in this region. They underscore the key importance of wildlife surveillance as an element of the One Health strategy, which encompasses humans, animals, and the environment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani15111636","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]],"date-time":"2025-06-02T08:34:13Z","timestamp":1748853253000},"page":"1636","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Four Novel SARS-CoV-2 Infected Feral American Mink (Neovison Vison) Among 60 Individuals Caught in the Wild"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-0566-874X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca","family":"Suita","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Servicio de An\u00e1lisis, Investigaci\u00f3n, Gesti\u00f3n de Animales Silvestres (SAIGAS), Veterinary Faculty, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, 46115 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4820-6417","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel","family":"Padilla-Blanco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, 46115 Valencia, Spain"},{"name":"Viral Immunology Lab, Molecular Biomedicine Department, Margarita Salas Center for Biological Research (CIB-CSIC), 28040 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2162-9495","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jordi","family":"Aguil\u00f3-Gisbert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Servicio de An\u00e1lisis, Investigaci\u00f3n, Gesti\u00f3n de Animales Silvestres (SAIGAS), Veterinary Faculty, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, 46115 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-3830-216X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Teresa","family":"Lorenzo-Bermejo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, 46115 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3059-6426","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Beatriz","family":"Ballester","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, 46115 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1401-772X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jes\u00fas","family":"Cardells","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Servicio de An\u00e1lisis, Investigaci\u00f3n, Gesti\u00f3n de Animales Silvestres (SAIGAS), Veterinary Faculty, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, 46115 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2770-0210","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elisa","family":"Maiques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, 46115 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8124-1196","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vicente","family":"Rubio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas (IBV-CSIC), 46010 Valencia, Spain"},{"name":"Group 739, IBV-CSIC, Centre for Biomedical Network Research, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBERER-ISCIII), 46010 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2490-6336","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"V\u00edctor","family":"Lizana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Servicio de An\u00e1lisis, Investigaci\u00f3n, Gesti\u00f3n de Animales Silvestres (SAIGAS), Veterinary Faculty, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, 46115 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9001-0437","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Consuelo","family":"Rubio-Guerri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, 46115 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Hempel, S. 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