Close relationship between mink influenza (H10N4) and concomitantly circulating avian influenza viruses.

Strains of an influenza H10N4 virus have been isolated during an outbreak of a respiratory disease in mink on the south-east coast of Sweden. This was the first example of a disease in mammals caused by the H10 subtype. We compared the A/mink/Sweden/84 strain with two recent avian H10N4 isolates, one from fowl and another from a mallard, both isolated in Great Britain in 1985 as well as the prototype A/chicken/Germany/N/49 (H10N7). The comparison was carried out by genomic analysis of the strains by oligonucleotide fingerprinting and in bioassays on mink. The oligonucleotide fingerprint analysis revealed a high degree of genomic homology of around 98% between the viruses from mink, mallard and fowl. Only the recent avian isolates, that from the mallard and fowl could infect mink by contact, causing similar pathological and clinical signs and inducing seroconversion as did the mink virus. However, the susceptibility of mink to the fowl and mallard viruses by contact was less pronounced than that to the mink virus. Both the genomic homology and the similarities from the infectivity and pathogenicity studies between the mink virus and the recent avian isolates point to a direct invasion of the mink population by an avian H10N4 virus.