Pulmonary artery haemorrhage in newborn calves following bluetongue virus serotype 8 experimental infections of pregnant heifers

Vaccination as a Strategy to Prevent Bluetongue Virus Vertical Transmission

Bluetongue virus (BTV) produces an economically important disease in ruminants of compulsory notification to the OIE. BTV is typically transmitted by the bite of Culicoides spp., however, some BTV strains can be transmitted vertically, and this is associated with fetus malformations and abortions. The viral factors associated with the virus potency to cross the placental barrier are not well defined. The potency of vertical transmission is retained and sometimes even increased in live attenuated BTV vaccine strains. Because BTV possesses a segmented genome, the possibility of reassortment of vaccination strains with wild-type virus could even favor the transmission of this phenotype. In the present review, we will describe the non-vector-based BTV infection routes and discuss the experimental vaccination strategies that offer advantages over this drawback of some live attenuated BTV vaccines.

Reliable and Standardized Animal Models to Study the Pathogenesis of Bluetongue and Schmallenberg Viruses in Ruminant Natural Host Species with Special Emphasis on Placental Crossing

Starting in 2006, bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV8) was responsible for a major epizootic in Western and Northern Europe. The magnitude and spread of the disease were surprisingly high and the control of BTV improved significantly with the marketing of BTV8 inactivated vaccines in 2008. During late summer of 2011, a first cluster of reduced milk yield, fever, and diarrhoea was reported in the Netherlands. Congenital malformations appeared in March 2012 and Schmallenberg virus (SBV) was identified, becoming one of the very few orthobunyaviruses distributed in Europe. At the start of both epizootics, little was known about the pathogenesis and epidemiology of these viruses in the European context and most assumptions were extrapolated based on other related viruses and/or other regions of the World. Standardized and repeatable models potentially mimicking clinical signs observed in the field are required to study the pathogenesis of these infections, and to clarify their ability to cross the placental barrier. This review presents some of the latest experimental designs for infectious disease challenges with BTV or SBV. Infectious doses, routes of infection, inoculum preparation, and origin are discussed. Particular emphasis is given to the placental crossing associated with these two viruses.

Assessment of cross-protection induced by a bluetongue virus (BTV) serotype 8 vaccine towards other BTV serotypes in experimental conditions

Bluetongue disease is caused by bluetongue virus (BTV) and BTV serotype 8 (BTV8) caused great economic damage in Europe during the last decade. From 1998 to 2007, in addition to BTV8, Europe had to face the emergence of BTV1, 2, 4, 9, and 16, spreading in countries where the virus has never been detected before. These unprecedented outbreaks trigger the need to evaluate and compare the clinical, virological and serological features of the European BTV serotypes in the local epidemiological context. In this study groups of calves were infected with one of the following European BTV serotypes, namely BTV1, 2, 4, 9 and 16. For each tested serotype, two groups of three male Holstein calves were used: one group vaccinated against BTV8, the other non-vaccinated. Clinical signs were quantified, viral RNA was detected in blood and organs and serological relationship was assessed. Calves were euthanized 35 days post-infection and necropsied. Most of the infected animals showed mild clinical signs. A partial serological cross reactivity has been reported between BTV8 and BTV4, and between BTV1 and BTV8. BTV2 and BTV4 viral RNA only reached low levels in blood, when compared to other serotypes, whereas in vitro growth assays could not highlight significant differences. Altogether the results of this study support the hypothesis of higher adaptation of some BTV strains to specific hosts, in this case calves. Furthermore, cross-protection resulting from a prior vaccination with BTV8 was highlighted based on cross-neutralization. However, the development of neutralizing antibodies is probably not totally explaining the mild protection induced by the heterologous vaccination.

Protective efficacy of multivalent replication-abortive vaccine strains in horses against African horse sickness virus challenge

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AHSV is an emerging insect-borne virus.

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The mortality rate of infected horses is often up to 90%

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New generation of vaccines are made using reveres genetics.

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These vaccines are replication abortive but highly immunogenic.

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Both monovalent and multivalent vaccines are protective in ponies.

African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is an orbivirus, a member of the Reoviridae family. Nine different serotypes have been described so far. AHSV is vectored by Culicoides spp. to equids, causing high mortality, particularly in horses, with considerable economic impacts. For development of a safe attenuated vaccine, we previously established an efficient reverse genetics (RG) system to generate Entry Competent Replication-Abortive (ECRA) virus strains, for all nine serotypes and demonstrated the vaccine potential of these strains in type I interferon receptor (IFNAR)-knockout mice. Here, we evaluated the protective efficacies of these ECRA viruses in AHSV natural hosts. One monoserotype (ECRA.A4) vaccine and one multivalent cocktail (ECRA.A1/4/6/8) vaccine were tested in ponies and subsequently challenged with a virulent AHSV4. In contrast to control animals, all vaccinated ponies were protected and did not develop severe clinical symptoms of AHS. Furthermore, the multivalent cocktail vaccinated ponies produced neutralizing antibodies against all serotypes present in the cocktail, and a foal born during the trial was healthy and had no viremia. These results validate the suitability of these ECRA strains as a new generation of vaccines for AHSV.

Bluetongue: control, surveillance and safe movement of animals

The performance of different bluetongue control measures related to both vaccination and protection from bluetongue virus (BTV) vectors was assessed. By means of a mathematical model, it was concluded that when vaccination is applied on 95% of animals even for 3 years, bluetongue cannot be eradicated and is able to re‐emerge. Only after 5 years of vaccination, the infection may be close to the eradication levels. In the absence of vaccination, the disease can persist for several years, reaching an endemic condition with low level of prevalence of infection. Among the mechanisms for bluetongue persistence, the persistence in the wildlife, the transplacental transmission in the host, the duration of viraemia and the possible vertical transmission in vectors were assessed. The criteria of the current surveillance scheme in place in the EU for demonstration of the virus absence need revision, because it was highlighted that under the current surveillance policy bluetongue circulation might occur undetected. For the safe movement of animals, newborn ruminants from vaccinated mothers with neutralising antibodies can be considered protected against infection, although a protective titre threshold cannot be identified. The presence of colostral antibodies interferes with the vaccine immunisation in the newborn for more than 3 months after birth, whereas the minimum time after vaccination of animal to be considered immune can be up to 48 days. The knowledge about vectors ecology, mechanisms of over‐wintering and criteria for the seasonally vector‐free period was updated. Some Culicoides species are active throughout the year and an absolute vector‐free period may not exist at least in some areas in Europe. To date, there is no evidence that the use of insecticides and repellents reduce the transmission of BTV in the field, although this may reduce host/vector contact. By only using pour‐on insecticides, protection of animals is lower than the one provided by vector‐proof establishments.

This publication is linked to the following EFSA Supporting Publications article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2017.EN-1182/full, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2017.EN-1171/full

Experimental bluetongue virus superinfection in calves previously immunized with bluetongue virus serotype 8

The effect of a superinfection with bluetongue virus serotype 1 (BTV1) was evaluated on two groups of four calves. One group received a commercial inactivated BTV serotype 8 (BTV8) vaccine. This group and the non-vaccinated group of calves were challenged twice (4 months apart) with the European BTV8 strain isolated during the 2006–2007 epidemics. Calves were then infected with a BTV1 inoculum which was found to be unexpectedly contaminated by BTV serotype 15 (BTV15). BTV1 and BTV15 single infections were performed on two other groups of three BTV naïve calves. A severe clinical picture was obtained after superinfection with BTV1/BTV15 in both vaccinated and non-vaccinated animals and after challenge with BTV8 in non-vaccinated animals. BTV1 and BTV15 single infection caused only very slight clinical signs. After superinfection and at the viraemic peak, there were an average of above 1000 times more BTV15 genomic copies than BTV1 ones. BTV1 RNA could be detected only in the spleen of one calf whereas BTV15 RNA was found in 15 organs of seven different animals. BTV8 immunization whether it was acquired through vaccination and challenges or challenges alone did not change BTV1 or BTV15 RNA detection in superinfected animals. However in these animals a partial cross neutralization between BTV8 and BTV1 might be involved in the lower BTV1 replication versus BTV15. Infection with different serotypes can occur also in the field. Interference between virus strains, genetic reassortment and cross-protection were considered as mechanisms to explain the clinical outcomes and the other virological and immunological findings in the course of BTV1/BTV15 superinfection.

Pathogenicity study in sheep using reverse-genetics-based reassortant bluetongue viruses

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Use of reverse genetics to generate reassortant BTV viruses for testing in animals.

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Two structural and one non-structural proteins are involved in pathogenicity.

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Molecular basis of bluetongue disease appears to be highly complex.

Bluetongue (BT) disease, caused by the non-enveloped bluetongue virus (BTV) belonging to the Reoviridae family, is an economically important disease that affects a wide range of wild and domestic ruminants. Currently, 26 different serotypes of BTV are recognized in the world, of which BTV-8 has been found to exhibit one of the most virulent manifestations of BT disease in livestock. In recent years incursions of BTV-8 in Europe have resulted in significant morbidity and mortality not only in sheep but also in cattle. The molecular and genetic basis of BTV-8 pathogenesis is not known. To understand the genetic basis of BTV-8 pathogenicity, we generated reassortant viruses by replacing the 3 most variable genes, S2, S6 and S10 of a recent isolate of BTV-8, in different combinations into the backbone of an attenuated strain of BTV-1. The growth profiles of these reassortant viruses were then analyzed in two different ovine cell lines derived from different organs, kidney and thymus. Distinct patterns for each reassortant virus in these two cell lines were observed. To determine the pathogenicity of these reassortant viruses, groups of BTV-susceptible sheep were infected with each of these viruses. The data suggested that the clinical manifestations of these two different serotypes, BTV-1 and BTV-8, were slightly distinct and BTV-1, when comprising all 3 genome segments of BTV-8, behaved differently to BTV-1. Our results also suggested that the molecular basis of BT disease is highly complex.