Experimental reproduction of bluetongue virus serotype 8 clinical disease in calves.
Cattle are commonly subclinically infected following natural or experimental infection with bluetongue virus (BTV). The introduction of BTV serotype 8 (BTV-8) in Europe has been characterized by the manifestation of clinical signs in infected cattle. In order to study the pathogenesis of BTV-8 in this host, an animal model able to reproduce the clinical manifestations of the disease is required. In this work, two calves were subcutaneously and intravenously injected with a low passage cell-adapted strain of BTV-8. Both calves showed typical bluetongue clinical signs, including pyrexia, ocular discharge, conjunctivitis, oral mucosal congestion, development of ulcers and necrotic lesions on the lips and tongue, submandibular oedema, coronitis and oedema of the coronet and pastern region. A score was assigned depending on the severity of the lesions and a total clinical score was calculated for each animal daily and at the end of the experiment. Both calves became viraemic 24h post-infection and seroconversion occurred between 7 and 11 days P.I. In this study we present the development of a protocol of infection in calves able to reproduce the severity of the lesions observed with BTV-8 in field conditions.
Dal Pozzo
F
F
Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Boulevard de Colonster, 20, B42, B-4000 Liège, Belgium.
De Clercq
K
K
Guyot
H
H
Vandemeulebroucke
E
E
Sarradin
P
P
Vandenbussche
F
F
Thiry
E
E
Saegerman
C
C
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001819:Bluetongue / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D001820:Bluetongue virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000276:immunology; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D014766:Viremia / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral