3 ms·

Why are minks riskier than average? Is it because of biological similarity (but then, there are lots of other mammals), or because of the conditions they're kep

by abeppu 6y ago

Why are minks riskier than average? Is it because of biological similarity (but then, there are lots of other mammals), or because of the conditions they're kept in? Naively, I might have just expected that cows or pigs or sheep would be the highest risks in aggregate, just because of numbers.

claudeganon 6y ago
The respiratory systems of Mustelidae are similar enough to humans that they easily can become a reservoir for human disease or vector for cross-species transmission. We’ve used ferrets in all kinds of respiratory disease research for this reason (particularly flu studies). https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/6/17-2114_article https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/6/17-2114_article You’re right about livestock more generally though. Avian and swine livestock also pose a huge risk for pandemic disease. But Mustelidae do as well.
_Microft 6y ago
I don't know why but it seems that in minks SARS-Cov-2 mutates a lot more frequently than it does in humans. This would mean a lot of new strains that we would not know how to detect or deal with.
- mercer 6y ago
  Yup. I mean, put humans in fecal-infested close confinement in numbers of 10.000s and see what happens. Big petry dish.
  - _Microft 6y ago
    From what I remember it sounded rather that the virus mutated faster in ferrets, not just because of their environment. I cannot find a source for it, so I might have misunderstood.
pvaldes 6y ago
> Why are minks riskier than average? Minks are closely related with Ferrets, one of the "not really rare" but "neither really uncommon" domestic pets. Domesticated ferrets communicate by licking and gently biting humans and other ferrets, and live in the same room as us.
ashtonkem 6y ago
Pigs tend to be a high risk due to both their proximity to humans, and because they’re genetically close enough to use that they’re a disease transmission risk. It’s believed that the 1918 flu pandemic mutated in a pig before hopping back to the first human victim.
- saalweachter 6y ago
  There's also another factor to consider in interspecies infections. Over-fitting. A virus "trained" on multiple species is targeting biology that is ubiquitous in higher life. The wider range of species a disease can infect, the less likely an individual member of a species is to have genetic variation that leaves it not susceptible to the disease, and the worse an outbreak is likely to be.

by abeppu 6y ago

claudeganon 6y ago

The respiratory systems of Mustelidae are similar enough to humans that they easily can become a reservoir for human disease or vector for cross-species transmission. We’ve used ferrets in all kinds of respiratory disease research for this reason (particularly flu studies). https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/6/17-2114_article https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/6/17-2114_article You’re right about livestock more generally though. Avian and swine livestock also pose a huge risk for pandemic disease. But Mustelidae do as well.

_Microft 6y ago

I don't know why but it seems that in minks SARS-Cov-2 mutates a lot more frequently than it does in humans. This would mean a lot of new strains that we would not know how to detect or deal with.

mercer 6y ago
Yup. I mean, put humans in fecal-infested close confinement in numbers of 10.000s and see what happens. Big petry dish.
- _Microft 6y ago
  From what I remember it sounded rather that the virus mutated faster in ferrets, not just because of their environment. I cannot find a source for it, so I might have misunderstood.

pvaldes 6y ago

> Why are minks riskier than average? Minks are closely related with Ferrets, one of the "not really rare" but "neither really uncommon" domestic pets. Domesticated ferrets communicate by licking and gently biting humans and other ferrets, and live in the same room as us.

ashtonkem 6y ago

Pigs tend to be a high risk due to both their proximity to humans, and because they’re genetically close enough to use that they’re a disease transmission risk. It’s believed that the 1918 flu pandemic mutated in a pig before hopping back to the first human victim.

saalweachter 6y ago
There's also another factor to consider in interspecies infections. Over-fitting. A virus "trained" on multiple species is targeting biology that is ubiquitous in higher life. The wider range of species a disease can infect, the less likely an individual member of a species is to have genetic variation that leaves it not susceptible to the disease, and the worse an outbreak is likely to be.