Studies on influenza viruses H10N4 and H10N7 of avian origin in mink

An influenza A virus, A/mink/Sweden/84 (H10N4), was isolated from farmed mink during an outbreak of respiratory disease, histopathologically characterised by severe interstitial pneumonia. The virus was shown to be of recent avian origin and closely related to concomitantly circulating avian influenza virus. Serological investigations were used to link the isolated virus to the herds involved in the disease outbreak. Experimental infection of adult mink with the virus isolate from the disease outbreak reproduced the disease signs and pathological lesions observed in the field cases. The mink influenza virus also induced an antibody response and spread between mink by contact. The same pathogenesis in mink was observed for two avian influenza viruses of the H10N4 subtype, circulating in the avian population. When mink were infected with the prototype avian H10 influenza virus, A/chicken/Germany/N/49, H10N7, the animals responded with antibody production and mild pulmonary lesions but neither disease signs nor contact infections were observed. Detailed studies, including demonstration of viral antigen in situ by immunohistochemistry, of the sequential development of pathological lesions in the mink airways after aerosol exposure to H10N4 or H10N7 revealed that the infections progress very similarly during the first 24 h, but are distinctly different at later stages. The conclusion drawn is that A/mink/Sweden/84, but not A/chicken/Germany/N/49, produces a multiple-cycle replication in mink airways. Since the viral distribution and pathological lesions are very similar during the initial stages of infection we suggest that the two viruses differ in their abilities to replicate and spread within the mink tissues, but that their capacities for viral adherence and entry into mink epithelial cells are comparable.