title: Molecular epidemiology of bluetongue virus serotype 1 circulating in Italy and its connection with northern Africa.
abstract: Western BTV-1 emerged in the Mediterranean basin in 2006 and it has since been isolated in southern and northern European countries. Six BTV-1 strains isolated from infected sheep in Italy between 2006 and 2013 and a BTV-1 strain isolated from an infected sheep in Tunisia in 2011 were fully sequenced. The seven strains were shown to be nearly identical in each gene segment. The Seg-2 sequences of the BTV-1 strains group according to the year of isolation reflecting the time of BTV incursions in Italy. Combined results suggest that BTV-1 strains isolated in Sardinia, Sicily and mainland Italy in 2012 and 2013 have a direct northern African origin. The Italian strains originated from a strain closely related to a BTV-1 strain isolated in Tunisia in 2011. Better surveillance programs with northern and sub-Saharan African countries should be implemented making the control of spread of BTV easier and effective.
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy. Electronic address: a.lorusso@izs.it.
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lorusso
authors.affiliation: Institut de la Recherche Vétérinaire de Tunisie (IRVT), Tunisi, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Soufien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sghaier
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ancora
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurilia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marcacci
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Annapia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Gennaro
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Ottavio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Portanti
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Iolanda
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mangone
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Liana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Teodori
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leone
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Camma'
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petrini
authors.affiliation: Institut de la Recherche Vétérinaire de Tunisie (IRVT), Tunisi, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Salah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hammami
authors.affiliation: OIE Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e Molise "G. Caporale", Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Savini
mesh_terms: D000352:Africa, Northern / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D001819:Bluetongue / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D001820:Bluetongue virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D012703:Serotyping; D012756:Sheep
keywords: Bluetongue virus serotype 1; Evolution; Molecular epidemiology; Next generation sequencing