Tools and Technologies to Control Aleutian Disease in Mink

Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) is pleased to announce the recent support of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) of $1.81 million through the Atlantic Innovation Fund for an innovative project that will help to develop technologies which will support management strategies to control Aleutian Disease (AD) in the mink industry.

Mink ranching is a multi-million dollar industry for Nova Scotia. Presently, AD is the number one infectious disease on mink ranches and costs the Nova Scotia mink industry over one million dollars annually in testing and removing infected animals. Although the Nova Scotia mink industry is internationally recognized for its exceptional quality, AD severely limits both production and the sale of breeding stock in national and international markets.

The project proposes to develop tools, technologies and biological materials that would aid the industry to design better strategies for controlling or eradicating AD. The NSAC led research team anticipates the project will identify a means of controlling AD and decrease production costs which will improve the overall profitability of the sector. The project also proposes to create a line of mink which will be resistant to the AD virus.

“A line of mink that are resistant to the AD virus will be immensely valuable to the industry, particularly if an effective vaccine cannot be found in the near future,” states Dr. Hossain Farid, lead researcher and Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics at NSAC. “This line would make it possible to find the gene or genes responsible for the trait, which in turn can be used to establish AD resistant populations by selective breeding.”

The Canadian Mink Breeders Association (CMBA) is a non-profit organization with a mandate to assist, protect and advance the Canadian mink farming industry both domestically and globally. “Nova Scotia is the top mink producing province in Canada,” says CMBA Executive Director Gary Hazlewood. “The mink industry is pleased that this innovative and potentially ground-breaking research is being done in our own backyard. Success will not only have a huge impact on the local mink industry but will impact the national and international arenas as well.”

NSAC is home to the Canadian Centre for Fur Animal Research, a state of the art facility, recognized internationally for innovative and leading edge mink research. Dr. Farid’s AD research further solidifies NSAC’s position as a centre of excellence for mink research in this country.