Viral infections shared between water buffaloes and small ruminants in Switzerland.

Lechmann, Julia; Ackermann, Mathias; Kaiser, Vanessa; Bachofen, Claudia (2021). Viral infections shared between water buffaloes and small ruminants in Switzerland. Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation, 33(5), pp. 894-905. Sage 10.1177/10406387211027131

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Importation of exotic animals that may harbor infectious agents poses risks for native species with potentially severe impacts on animal health and animal production. Although the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) population in Europe is steadily increasing, its susceptibility to viral infections and its role for interspecies transmission is largely unknown. To identify viral infections that are shared between exotic water buffaloes and native small ruminants, we collected blood samples from 3 Swiss farms on which water buffaloes were kept either without, or together with, sheep or goats. These samples were analyzed by next-generation sequencing (NGS) as well as by selected conventional tests, including PCR, ELISA, and in some cases a virus neutralization test. By NGS, a novel virus of the genus Gemykrogvirus (GyKV; Genomoviridae) was first detected in the buffaloes on one farm, and subsequently confirmed by PCR, and was also detected in the co-housed sheep. In contrast, this virus was not detected in buffaloes on the farms without sheep. Moreover, conventional methods identified a number of viral infections that were not shared between the exotic and the native animals, and provided evidence for potential roles of water buffaloes in the epidemiology of ruminant pestiviruses, especially bovine viral diarrhea virus, bluetongue virus, and possibly bovine alphaherpesvirus 2. Our results clearly indicate that water buffaloes are susceptible to interspecies viral transmission and may act as intermediate hosts, or even as reservoirs, for these viruses.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP) > Institute of Virology and Immunology 05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP)
UniBE Contributor:	Kaiser, Vanessa Lisa
Subjects:	500 Science 500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology 500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology) 600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health 600 Technology > 630 Agriculture
ISSN:	1943-4936
Publisher:	Sage
Language:	English
Submitter:	Katharina Gerber-Paizs
Date Deposited:	07 Mar 2022 15:05
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 16:08
Publisher DOI:	10.1177/10406387211027131
PubMed ID:	34166139
Uncontrolled Keywords:	buffalo interspecies transmission next-generation sequencing small ruminants
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/165623