A broad spectrum screening of Schmallenberg virus antibodies in wildlife animals in Germany.

Susan Mouchantat,Konstantin Börner,Rainer G Ulrich,Ulrich Wittstatt,Bernd Hoffmann,Kerstin Wernike,Martin Beer,Walburga Lutz

doi:10.1186/s13567-015-0232-x

Susan Mouchantat, Konstantin Börner + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13567-015-0232-x

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Abstract

To identify native wildlife species possibly susceptible to infection with Schmallenberg virus (SBV), a midge-transmitted orthobunyavirus that predominantly infects domestic ruminants, samples from various free-living ruminants, but also carnivores, small mammals and wild boar were analyzed serologically. Before 2011, no SBV-specific antibodies were detectable in any of the tested species, thereafter, a large proportion of the ruminant population became seropositive, while every sample taken from carnivores or small mammals tested negative. Surprisingly, SBV-specific-antibodies were also present in a large number of blood samples from wild boar during the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 hunting seasons. Hence, free-ranging artiodactyls may play a role as wildlife host.

Highlights

To identify native wildlife species possibly susceptible to infection with Schmallenberg virus (SBV), a midge-transmitted orthobunyavirus that predominantly infects domestic ruminants, samples from various free-living ruminants, and carnivores, small mammals and wild boar were analyzed serologically
In the following vector season, SBV still circulated in that area, but at a much lower level [6], and in 2013, cases of viral genome detection were reported only sporadically to the German Animal Disease Reporting System (TSN)
To investigate whether wild boar are susceptible to an SBV-infection and may serve as a reservoir, a total of 2077 blood samples taken post mortem in 2006 and between August 2010 and December 2013 was analyzed for the presence of SBV-specific antibodies. 1646 of the 2077 samples were collected in North Rhine-Westphalia, the German federal state where the first case of SBVinfection was detected [1]

Summary

Introduction

To identify native wildlife species possibly susceptible to infection with Schmallenberg virus (SBV), a midge-transmitted orthobunyavirus that predominantly infects domestic ruminants, samples from various free-living ruminants, and carnivores, small mammals and wild boar were analyzed serologically. In the hunting season 2011/2012, 105 out of 316 samples tested positive (33%), in the following season SBV-specific antibodies were detectable in 11% of the samples (119 out of 1114), while in 2013/2014 all of the analyzed 32 samples scored negative (Figure 1).

Results

Conclusion