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Lechmann J, Ackermann M, Kaiser V, Bachofen C. Viral infections shared between water buffaloes and small ruminants in Switzerland. J Vet Diagn Invest 2021; 33:894-905. [PMID: 34166139 DOI: 10.1177/10406387211027131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Importation of exotic animals that may harbor infectious agents poses risks for native species with potentially severe impacts on animal health and animal production. Although the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) population in Europe is steadily increasing, its susceptibility to viral infections and its role for interspecies transmission is largely unknown. To identify viral infections that are shared between exotic water buffaloes and native small ruminants, we collected blood samples from 3 Swiss farms on which water buffaloes were kept either without, or together with, sheep or goats. These samples were analyzed by next-generation sequencing (NGS) as well as by selected conventional tests, including PCR, ELISA, and in some cases a virus neutralization test. By NGS, a novel virus of the genus Gemykrogvirus (GyKV; Genomoviridae) was first detected in the buffaloes on one farm, and subsequently confirmed by PCR, and was also detected in the co-housed sheep. In contrast, this virus was not detected in buffaloes on the farms without sheep. Moreover, conventional methods identified a number of viral infections that were not shared between the exotic and the native animals, and provided evidence for potential roles of water buffaloes in the epidemiology of ruminant pestiviruses, especially bovine viral diarrhea virus, bluetongue virus, and possibly bovine alphaherpesvirus 2. Our results clearly indicate that water buffaloes are susceptible to interspecies viral transmission and may act as intermediate hosts, or even as reservoirs, for these viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Lechmann
- Institute of Virology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Mathias Ackermann
- Institute of Virology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Vanessa Kaiser
- Institute of Virology and Immunology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Current address: MSD Animal Health, Lucerne, Switzerland
| | - Claudia Bachofen
- Institute of Virology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Pinior B, Firth CL, Loitsch A, Stockreiter S, Hutter S, Richter V, Lebl K, Schwermer H, Käsbohrer A. Cost distribution of bluetongue surveillance and vaccination programmes in Austria and Switzerland (2007-2016). Vet Rec 2018; 182:257. [PMID: 29363572 PMCID: PMC5870441 DOI: 10.1136/vr.104448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2017] [Revised: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 12/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Bluetongue virus (BTV) is an emerging transboundary disease in Europe, which can cause significant production losses among ruminants. The analysis presented here assessed the costs of BTV surveillance and vaccination programmes in Austria and Switzerland between 2007 and 2016. Costs were compared with respect to time, type of programme, geographical area and who was responsible for payment. The total costs of the BTV vaccination and surveillance programmes in Austria amounted to €23.6 million, whereas total costs in Switzerland were €18.3 million. Our analysis demonstrates that the costs differed between years and geographical areas, both within and between the two countries. Average surveillance costs per animal amounted to approximately €3.20 in Austria compared with €1.30 in Switzerland, whereas the average vaccination costs per animal were €6.20 in Austria and €7.40 in Switzerland. The comparability of the surveillance costs is somewhat limited, however, due to differences in each nation’s surveillance (and sampling) strategy. Given the importance of the export market for cattle production, investments in such programmes are more justified for Austria than for Switzerland. The aim of the retrospective assessment presented here is to assist veterinary authorities in planning and implementing cost-effective and efficient control strategies for emerging livestock diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beate Pinior
- Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Clair L Firth
- Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Angelika Loitsch
- Institute for Veterinary Disease Control Mödling, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Mödling, Austria
| | | | - Sabine Hutter
- Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Veronika Richter
- Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Karin Lebl
- Department of Biological Safety, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Annemarie Käsbohrer
- Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Department of Biological Safety, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, Germany
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Lechner I, Wüthrich M, Meylan M, van den Borne BHP, Schüpbach-Regula G. Association of clinical signs after acute Schmallenberg virus infection with milk production and fertility in Swiss dairy cows. Prev Vet Med 2017; 146:121-129. [PMID: 28992916 DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2017.07.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2017] [Revised: 07/14/2017] [Accepted: 07/31/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Since its first occurrence in August 2011 in Germany and the Netherlands, the Schmallenberg virus (SBV) spread rapidly across Europe, where it caused production losses and abortions in ruminants as well as congenital malformations in the offspring of affected animals. Several studies have investigated the impact of SBV on fertility and production parameters in dairy cows at herd level. However, the impact of clinical disease at the animal level remained undetermined. This study aimed at estimating the impact of clinical disease during and after an infection with SBV on production and fertility parameters in individual Swiss dairy cows. Sixty-seven case and twenty-four control herds were selected according to whether cows had been showing clinical signs indicative of SBV during the epidemic from July to December 2012 in Switzerland. Of these 91 farms, production and fertility data from 388 cows with clinical signs from case herds were collected over a time period of four years, and compared to data from 932 cows without clinical signs originating from case or control herds. Milk yield, somatic cell count, number of inseminations and non-return at day 56 were analysed by means of hierarchical multivariable regression analysis. A significant drop in milk yield was observed in all groups during the SBV epidemic compared to the time before the infection, which amounted to 1.9kg per test day for clinical animals, 1.1kg for non-clinical animals from case herds and 0.6kg for non-clinical animals from control herds. A prolonged effect on milk yield was observed in clinical cows for about one year, suggesting that animals with clinical disease might not return to their previous milk production level in the current lactation after an acute infection with SBV. Clinical animals showed a significantly higher somatic cell count during the epidemic compared to the time before the infection. The number of inseminations per cow and production cycle was higher for clinical animals during the epidemic compared to the time periods before and after, but not significantly higher than for non-clinical animals from case and control herds. No difference regarding non-return at day 56 was found. Although the overall impact of the SBV epidemic in Switzerland was limited, the consequences could be substantial in farms with a high prevalence of clinical disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Lechner
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Schwarzenburgstrasse 155, 3097 Liebefeld, Switzerland
| | - Marianne Wüthrich
- Clinic for Ruminants, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bremgartenstrasse 109a, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Mireille Meylan
- Clinic for Ruminants, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bremgartenstrasse 109a, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Bart H P van den Borne
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Schwarzenburgstrasse 155, 3097 Liebefeld, Switzerland
| | - Gertraud Schüpbach-Regula
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Schwarzenburgstrasse 155, 3097 Liebefeld, Switzerland.
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Wüthrich M, Lechner I, Aebi M, Vögtlin A, Posthaus H, Schüpbach-Regula G, Meylan M. A case–control study to estimate the effects of acute clinical infection with the Schmallenberg virus on milk yield, fertility and veterinary costs in Swiss dairy herds. Prev Vet Med 2016; 126:54-65. [DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.01.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2015] [Revised: 01/22/2016] [Accepted: 01/25/2016] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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Balmer S, Gobet H, Nenniger C, Hadorn D, Schwermer H, Vögtlin A. Schmallenberg virus activity in cattle in Switzerland in 2013. Vet Rec 2016; 177:289. [PMID: 26374781 DOI: 10.1136/vr.103238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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Steinrigl A, Schiefer P, Schleicher C, Peinhopf W, Wodak E, Bagó Z, Schmoll F. Rapid spread and association of Schmallenberg virus with ruminant abortions and foetal death in Austria in 2012/2013. Prev Vet Med 2014; 116:350-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2014.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2013] [Revised: 02/03/2014] [Accepted: 03/08/2014] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
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Balmer S, Vögtlin A, Thür B, Büchi M, Abril C, Houmard M, Danuser J, Schwermer H. Serosurveillance of Schmallenberg virus in Switzerland using bulk tank milk samples. Prev Vet Med 2014; 116:370-9. [PMID: 24794645 DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2014.03.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2013] [Revised: 03/19/2014] [Accepted: 03/26/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Infections with Schmallenberg virus (SBV), a novel Orthobunyavirus transmitted by biting midges, can cause abortions and malformations of newborns and severe symptoms in adults of domestic and wild ruminants. Understanding the temporal and spatial distribution of the virus in a certain territory is important for the control and prevention of the disease. In this study, seroprevalence of antibodies against SBV and the spatial spread of the virus was investigated in Swiss dairy cattle applying a milk serology technique on bulk milk samples. The seroprevalence in cattle herds was significantly higher in December 2012 (99.5%) compared to July 2012 (19.7%). This high between-herd seroprevalence in cattle herds was observed shortly after the first detection of viral infections. Milk samples originating from farms with seropositive animals taken in December 2012 (n=209; mean 160%) revealed significantly higher S/P% ratios than samples collected in July 2012 (n=48; mean 103.6%). This finding suggests a high within-herd seroprevalence in infected herds which makes testing of bulk tank milk samples for the identification farms with past exposures to SBV a sensitive method. It suggests also that within-herd transmission followed by seroconversion still occurred between July and December. In July 2012, positive bulk tank milk samples were mainly restricted to the western part of Switzerland whereas in December 2012, all samples except one were positive. A spatial analysis revealed a separation of regions with and without positive farms in July 2012 and no spatial clustering within the regions with positive farms. In contrast to the spatial dispersion of bluetongue virus, a virus that is also transmitted by Culicoides midges, in 2008 in Switzerland, the spread of SBV occurred from the western to the eastern part of the country. The dispersed incursion of SBV took place in the western part of Switzerland and the virus spread rapidly to the remaining territory. This spatial pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that transmission by Culicoides midges was the main way of spreading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Balmer
- Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Schwarzenburgstrasse 155, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Andrea Vögtlin
- Institute of Virology and Immunology IVI, Sensemattstr. 293, CH-3147 Mittelhäusern, Switzerland
| | - Barbara Thür
- Institute of Virology and Immunology IVI, Sensemattstr. 293, CH-3147 Mittelhäusern, Switzerland
| | - Martina Büchi
- Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Schwarzenburgstrasse 155, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Carlos Abril
- Suisselab AG Zollikofen, Schützenstrasse 10, CH-3052 Zollikofen, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Houmard
- Suisselab AG Zollikofen, Schützenstrasse 10, CH-3052 Zollikofen, Switzerland
| | - Jürg Danuser
- Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Schwarzenburgstrasse 155, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Heinzpeter Schwermer
- Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Schwarzenburgstrasse 155, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland.
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