Interpretive Summary: Genetic and phenotypic correlations between Aleutian disease tests with body weight, growth, and feed efficiency traits in mink

By: Guoyu Hu, Duy Ngoc Do, Pourya Davoudi, Ghader Manafiazar, Alyson A Kelvin, Graham Plastow, Zhiquan Wang, Mehdi Sargolzaei, Younes Miar

The selection of Aleutian disease-resistant individuals based on Aleutian disease (AD) tests is seen as a potential method to control AD effectively. However, the knowledge regarding the genetic background of AD tests is limited. This study estimated the genetic and phenotypic correlations between Aleutian disease tests and body weight, growth, and feed-related traits in mink. The estimates in this study indicated that the growth, feed efficiency, and feed intake of mink would not be adversely influenced by the selection of AD tests. In the meantime, the estimates further illustrate that the antigen-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test could be applied as the most reliable and practical indicator trait to select AD-resilient mink in AD-positive farms.