Detection of Aleutian disease antibodies in feral American mink in southern England.
Yamaguchi N., Macdonald DW.
Fourteen of 27 American mink (Mustela vison) trapped in the upper Thames region were positive for anti-Aleutian disease antibodies. This demonstration of the occurrence of this viral disease in a feral American mink population suggests that it could threaten populations of at least two protected mustelids, the otter (Lutra lutra) and the polecat (Mustela putorius), and may also play a role in the apparent decline of local mink populations in Britain.