(Yicai Global) Dec. 11 -- Chinese researchers have identified how the coronavirus is passed to humans from minks, according to an article published in the National Science Review. 

The joint study, carried out by scientists at Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, the School of Public Health at Xiamen University and the High Containment Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, found that SARS-CoV-2 replicates efficiently in both the upper and lower respiratory tracts, and transmits efficiently in minks via respiratory droplets.

Pulmonary lesions caused by SARS-CoV-2 in minks are similar to those seen in humans with Covid-19, according to the paper Replication, Pathogenicity, and Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Minks published on Dec. 8.

European countries last month ordered mass culls at mink farms following a series of cases of the disease being passed to humans from the animals, sparking fears of a mutation that could render new SARS-CoV-2 vaccines ineffective.

The Chinese research also found that a spike protein-based subunit vaccine largely prevented SARS-CoV-2 replication and lung damage caused by the viral infection in minks.

The study indicates that minks are a useful animal model for evaluating the efficacy of drugs or vaccines against Covid-19 and that inoculation is a potential strategy to prevent minks from transmitting SARS-CoV-2. It also found that vaccinated animals could be protected from exposure to virus-infected animals. 

Editor: Tom Litting