SARS-CoV-2 wildlife surveillance in Ontario and Québec.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, is capable of infecting a variety of wildlife species. Wildlife living in close contact with humans are at an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure and, if infected, have the potential to become a reservoir for the pathogen, making control and management more difficult. The objective of this study is to conduct SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in urban wildlife from Ontario and Québec, increasing our knowledge of the epidemiology of the virus and our chances of detecting spillover from humans into wildlife.

Aleutian mink disease virus in striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis): evidence for cross-species spillover.

Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV) causes a parvovirus infection, initially characterized in American mink (Neovison vison), that may have harmful effects on wild populations of susceptible animals. In North America, where American mink are native, the origin, host range, and prevalence of AMDV in wild species is not clear. We studied striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) and raccoons (Procyon lotor) to determine whether species sympatric with mink are potential reservoirs in the transmission of AMDV to wild mink and mink farms.

Testing for Aleutian mink disease virus in the river otter (Lontra canadensis) in sympatry with infected American mink (Neovison vison).

Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV) occurs in the American mink (Neovison vison) in wild populations and on mink farms and can cause illness and death. The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) may be exposed to AMDV because of shared space and habitat with mink. Using serology and real-time PCR, we tested river otters across Ontario for AMDV infection.

Physiological adaptations to prolonged fasting in the overwintering striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis).

Wintertime physiology of captive striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) in response to cold ambient temperature (Ta) and fasting was investigated with body temperature (Tb) and activity recordings and analyses of hematology, plasma biochemistry and tissue fatty acids (FA). After 105 days of food deprivation, the skunks were in phase II of fasting indicated by the elevated plasma nonesterified FA and glycerol but no accumulation of nitrogen end products. Shorter-chain saturated and monounsaturated FA together with C18-20 n-3 polyunsaturated FA were preferentially mobilized.

Molecular epidemiology of Aleutian disease virus in free-ranging domestic, hybrid, and wild mink.

Aleutian mink disease (AMD) is a prominent infectious disease in mink farms. The AMD virus (AMDV) has been well characterized in Europe where American mink (Neovison vison) are an introduced species; however, in North America, where American mink are native and the disease is thought to have originated, the virus' molecular epidemiology is unknown. As such, we characterized viral isolates from Ontario free-ranging mink of domestic, hybrid, and wild origin at two proteins: NS1, a nonstructural protein, and VP2, a capsid protein.

Testing for bias in a sentinel species: contaminants in free-ranging domestic, wild, and hybrid mink.

Sentinel species are important tools for studies of biodiversity and environmental health. The American mink (Neovison vison) has long been considered a sentinel of environmental contamination, since the species is known to be sensitive to a number of common contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and mercury. Mink may not always satisfy an important criterion of sentinels however--that they are continuous residents of the environment being sampled.

Mink farms predict Aleutian disease exposure in wild American mink.

Background: Infectious diseases can often be of conservation importance for wildlife. Spillover, when infectious disease is transmitted from a reservoir population to sympatric wildlife, is a particular threat. American mink (Neovison vison) populations across Canada appear to be declining, but factors thus far explored have not fully explained this population trend.