title: HoBi-like pestivirus experimental infection in pregnant ewes: Reproductive disorders and generation of persistently infected lambs.
abstract: In order to evaluate sheep as experimental model to test the efficacy of HoBi-like pestivirus vaccines for cattle, 10 sheep at different stages of pregnancy (30 or 50 days) were experimentally infected with the Italian prototype isolate Italy-1/10-1. Irrespective of the stage of pregnancy, virus inoculation resulted in reproductive failures, consisting of abortion, stillbirths or birth of weak or persistently infected (PI) lambs. Aborted fetuses, stillborn and dead lambs displayed extensive histopathological changes, consisting of hemorrhages, congestion and mononuclear infiltration in major organs. Pestiviral antigens were detected by immunohistochemistry in most tissues with remarkable signals in lungs and kidneys. PI lambs were constantly viremic, shed the virus through the nasal secretions and feces and, in all cases but one, did not have detectable HoBi-like pestivirus antibodies before the assumption of colostrum. The single seropositive infected lamb showed low-titer viremia and viral shedding that ceased only several weeks after the 3-month observation period. The study proves that sheep are susceptible to the reproduction failures caused by HoBi-like pestivirus infection and can serve as a suitable model for the evaluation of the fetal protection induced by homologous experimental vaccines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy. Electronic address: nicola.decaro@uniba.it.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Decaro
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Losurdo
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Larocca
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Stella
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lucente
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mari
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale di Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna, 148, 10154 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Varello
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Patruno
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Camero
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sciarra
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Occhiogrosso
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tempesta
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale di Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna, 148, 10154 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Iulini
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Strada per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Canio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buonavoglia
mesh_terms: D037881:Aborted Fetus; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D010576:Pestivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D018182:Pestivirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012098:Reproduction; D012756:Sheep; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary*; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D014766:Viremia / Q000662:veterinary; D017201:Virus Shedding
chemical_list: D014765:Viral Vaccines
keywords: Experimental infection; HoBi-like pestivirus; PI lambs; Sheep