title: Transplacental infection in goats experimentally infected with a European strain of bluetongue virus serotype 8.
abstract: The capability of the recently emerged European strain of bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) to cross the ruminant placenta has been established in experimental and field studies in both sheep and cattle. Seroprevalence rates in goats in North-Western Europe were high during the recent outbreak of BTV-8; however the capability of the virus to infect goats through the transplacental route has not been established. In the present study, four Saanen goats were inoculated with the European strain of BTV-8 at 62 days of gestation; this resulted in mild clinical signs, however gross lesions observed post mortem were more severe. Viral RNA was detected by real-time RT-PCR in blood and tissue samples from three fetuses harvested from two goats at 43 days post infection. Conventional RT-PCR and genome sequencing targeting viral segment 2 confirmed infection of brain tissue with BTV-8 in two of these fetuses. In total, five of six fetuses demonstrated lesions that may have been associated with transplacental infection with BTV. Infected fetuses did not demonstrate neurological lesions. Low viral RNA concentrations in fetal blood and tissue further suggest that the infected fetuses would probably not have been born viraemic. The implications of these findings with regards to the epidemiology and overwintering of BTV-8 in Europe remains unclear.
authors: Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, Pretoria 0110, South Africa. peter.coetzee@yahoo.com
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Coetzee
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Stokstad
authors: Mette
authors: M
authors: Myrmel
authors: Paidamwoyo
authors: P
authors: Mutowembwa
authors: Torleiv
authors: T
authors: Loken
authors: Estelle H
authors: EH
authors: Venter
authors: Moritz
authors: M
authors: Van Vuuren
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001819:Bluetongue / Q000635:transmission*; D001820:Bluetongue virus / Q000145:classification*; D005260:Female; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D006041:Goats; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000662:veterinary*; D010920:Placenta / Q000821:virology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D012367:RNA, Viral; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Bluetongue virus serotype 8; Europe; Goats; Overwintering; Transplacental infection