Diversity and stability of Aleutian mink disease virus during bottleneck transitions resulting from eradication in domestic mink in Denmark

Aleutian mink disease (plasmacytosis) virus (AMDV) in domestic mink (Neovison vison) has been subject to eradication in Denmark since 1976. In 2001, approximately 5% of Danish mink farms were still infected and all were located in the northern part of the peninsula of Jutland. In the present study a total of 274 Danish isolates of AMDV collected during the two seasons of 2004 and 2005 were characterized by partial sequencing of the coding region of the non-structural (NS) proteins.

Older AMDV isolates from Denmark, available, were also included. The Danish isolates represent a very homogenous cluster compared with Swedish, Finnish and Dutch isolates and seem to represent a minor fraction of the genetic diversity previously found in Denmark. Stability of nucleoide deviations reveals that the purifying selection of bottlenecks imposed on the AMDV population in Denmark by the stamping out policy for more than 6 years exceeds the rate of mutation driven diversity.

Among the isolates from farms in northern Jutland two distinct types could be identified and within each of them a number of sub-types which were all useful in tracking spread of infections. Infection at a farm the preceding season was a predisposing risk parameter for disease outbreak at a farm, and strain identity substantiates the suggestion that inadequate disinfection is involved in the recurrence of outbreaks.

In cases of new introductions to farms it is indicated that contact including transport between farms played a most significant role.