Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the epidemiological situation of the caprine herpesvirus 1 (CpHV-1) infection in nine districts in mainland France, mostly in the south, near Italy or Spain, where high seroprevalence has been observed. Two more central areas were also included in the study. The serosurvey was carried out in 9564 goats (275 herds) using bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) glycoprotein B and E ELISAs. To confirm the presence of specific CpHV-1 antibodies, some of the samples were tested in neutralization assay. Results demonstrate, for the first time, CpHV-1 infection in goat herds on the French mainland. The analysis found cases of alphaherpesviruses infection in each district studied, with different levels of seroprevalence observed within each district (ranging from 0.2% to 31.56% at an individual level and from 9% to 46.2% for herd seroprevalence). Moreover, in the Alpes-Maritimes district, the seroprevalence seemed to be higher in older goats (79.45% of animals 6 years old or more) than in younger animals (40.99% of one-year-olds). This result suggests frequent virus re-excretion and circulation in herds. Results analysis also shows that the seroprevalence was higher when the herd size increased. In addition, the first French CpHV-1 strain was isolated from nasal swabs taken on an infected goat. The data reported herein demonstrate that CpHV-1 circulates in mainland France, which should henceforth be taken into consideration in cases of unexplained abortion in goats.
Highlights
Caprine herpesvirus 1 (CpHV-1) belongs to the subfamily of alphaherpesviruses, which contains seven genetically-related viruses [1]
caprine herpesvirus 1 (CpHV-1) infection is usually subclinical in adult goats, it can be responsible for different disorders including respiratory diseases, fever and leukopenia [7], vulvovaginitis [8,9] and balanoposthitis [10], and neonatal mortality
The serological status of the goats against CpHV-1 was obtained by using a combination of commercial bovine enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) tests designed to detect glycoprotein BB (gB) and glycoprotein E (gE) antibodies, and cross seroneutralisation assay against CpHV-1 and bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) (Figure 2)
Summary
Caprine herpesvirus 1 (CpHV-1) belongs to the subfamily of alphaherpesviruses, which contains seven genetically-related viruses [1]. CpHV-1 is closely related to bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1), responsible for infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) [2,3]. Like BoHV-1, CpHV-1 infects animals through the genital [4,5,6] or the respiratory mucosa [4] and establishes latent infection in sacral or trigeminal ganglia depending on the route of infection and the following spread through the body [5]. CpHV-1 infection is usually subclinical in adult goats, it can be responsible for different disorders including respiratory diseases, fever and leukopenia [7], vulvovaginitis [8,9] and balanoposthitis [10], and neonatal mortality. Abortions can be induced by the infection of pregnant goats at 3–4 months of gestation [11,12,13,14]. Stillbirths and reproductive failures cause financial losses in herds
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