Abstract
After the unexpected emergence of Bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) in northern Europe in 2006, another arbovirus, Schmallenberg virus (SBV), emerged in Europe in 2011 causing a new economically important disease in ruminants. The virus, belonging to the Orthobunyavirus genus in the Bunyaviridae family, was first detected in Germany, in The Netherlands and in Belgium in 2011 and soon after in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Denmark and Switzerland. This review describes the current knowledge on the emergence, epidemiology, clinical signs, molecular virology and diagnosis of SBV infection.
Highlights
After the unexpected emergence of Bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) in northern Europe in 2006, another arbovirus, Schmallenberg virus (SBV), emerged in Europe in 2011 causing a new economically important disease in ruminants
Inoculation of 9-month old calves with blood of cattle that were RT-qPCR positive for SBV or with the virus isolated in Culicoides variipennis larvae cells (KC cells) caused fever and mucous diarrhoea, providing experimental evidence that SBV might be responsible for the clinical signs observed [3]
France reported its first case of SBV on the 25th of January 2012 after the virus genome was detected by RT-qPCR in brain samples from malformed lambs born on farms located in the territorial divisions of “Moselle” and “Meurthe et Moselle” in northeastern France [7]
Summary
The emergence of SBV at the end of 2011 in Europe is a reminder that the introduction of new diseases remains a threat for European countries. A certain level of protection exists within the ruminant populations but it is likely that a significant percentage of animals remains susceptible to SBV in areas where no or few cases of SBV have been reported. This suggests that new congenital cases of SBV infection will occur during the winter 2012–2013. All authors read and approved the final manuscript
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