FIRST DETECTION OF SCHMALLENBERg VIRuS INFECTIONS IN SLOVENIA, 2012

Summary: In late summer 2011, Germany and the Netherlands reported the first cases of acute infection in cattle caused by a novel Orthobunyavirus, named the Schmallenberg virus (SBV). The first malformations due to SBV were observed in December 2011 in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. SBV was first identified in Slovenia in a flock of 23 sheep where nine aborted foetuses with malformations were found on a farm. Viral nucleic acid of SBV was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) from the brain and spleen samples with a protocol developed by the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute (FLI), Germany. Between January and April 2013 a total of 77 malformed calves were tested and 25 calves identified as SBV positive by RT-qPCR. The majority of malformed animals had one or more of the following pathological lesions: arthrogryposis, brachygnathia, torticollis, scoliosis, hydranencephaly and brain and spinal cord malformations. Additionally, two archive samples collected in September 2012 were identified as SBV positive, confirming that SBV infection was already present in Slovenia in 2012. The sequencing analysis of the partial L-segment confirmed that the strain detected in Slovenia was 100% identical to the Schmallenberg virus isolate Germany (JX853179), identified in 2011. SBV-positive herds have been located throughout Slovenia.