Ann. Méd. Vét., 2012, 156 (2), pp 125-132 Results of an epidemiological
survey intended to veterinarians
aiming to assess the clinical,
zootechnic and economic
impacts of the emergence of
Schmallenberg virus in Wallonia
(situation in May, 2012)MARTINELLE L., KIRSCHVINK N., DAL POZZO F., GAUTHIER B., SAEGERMAN C.Abstract :
Recently a new virus, belonging
to the Bunyaviridae family and the
Orthobunyavirus genus, appeared
in Europe. It has been temporarily
called Schmallenberg virus (SBV),
from the German location of its first
identification. The disease caused
by SBV is not contagious, and is
transmitted by vectors, probably
midges of the Culicoides genus.
In adult bovine, the disease is characterized
by a drastic reduction
of milk production, hyperthermia,
diarrhea and sometimes abortion.
Congenital lesions like arthrogryposis
and hydranencephaly are
described in lambs, goat kids and
calves. The zoonotic risk is negligible.
First suspicious cases were
detected as soon as July 2011.
The mean cost for individual treatment
was 67 or 107 euros, in case
of fatal outcome or apparent recovery
respectively.
At present, SBV is not a reportable
disease in Belgium and probably
cases are under declared.
Furthermore, a lack of detection is
due to the delay existing between
the infection of the mother and the
progeny and the short duration of
the viraemia. The evaluation of the
extent of the SBV episode and the
consequent economical and zootechnicallosses,
implies important
research efforts. As these results
are preliminary, they would warrant
an implementation in a larger scale
and more detailed analysis, including
answers of additional practitioners Get the PDF Contact person : claude.saegerman@ulg.ac.be |