title: Schmallenberg virus infection in South American camelids: Field and experimental investigations.
abstract: During the first epizootic wave of the novel, teratogenic Schmallenberg virus (SBV, Orthobunyavirus) in ruminants in Northern Europe, serological evidence of a previous SBV-infection demonstrated that South American camelids (SAC) are also susceptible to SBV. However, their potential role in SBV spread remains unknown. To investigate the prevalence and course of SBV-infection in SAC, a German field study and an animal trial with three llamas and three alpacas were conducted. From September 2012 to December 2013, 313 of 502 SAC (62.35%) were found SBV seropositive, but negative for SBV-RNA. The estimated between-district (94.23% of 52) and median within-district (71.43%) and herd (73.13%) SBV seroprevalence in German SAC was similar to the seroprevalence reported in cattle herds and sheep flocks at the time. An age of >1 year was found a statistically significant risk factor for SBV-infection, which could be explained by the spatio-temporal spread of SBV in Germany during the study period. No clinical signs or an increase of abortion and congenital malformation associated with SBV-infection in SAC were reported by the study participants. Similar to SBV-infected ruminants, SBV-RNAemia in experimentally SBV-infected SAC was detected for a short time between days 3 and 7 after infection (dpi), and seroconversion occurred between 9 and 21 dpi. Despite the similar virological and serological results, the lack of clinical signs and congenital malformation associated with SBV-infection suggests that SBV causes subclinical infection in SAC. However, their role as reservoirs in the spread of SBV has to be further investigated.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany. Electronic address: claudia.schulz@fli.bund.de.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
mesh_terms: D000034:Abortion, Veterinary / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D002044:Bunyaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002161:Camelids, New World / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016851:Orthobunyavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D012307:Risk Factors; D012418:Ruminants / Q000821:virology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Experimental infection; Field study; Germany; Schmallenberg virus; South American camelids