A census to determine the prevalence and risk factors for caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus and visna/maedi virus in the Swiss goat population

Thomann, Beat; Falzon, Laura Cristina; Bertoni, Giuseppe; Vogt, Hans-Rudolf; Schüpbach, Gertraud; Magouras, Ioannis (2017). A census to determine the prevalence and risk factors for caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus and visna/maedi virus in the Swiss goat population. Preventive veterinary medicine, 137(Pt A), pp. 52-58. Elsevier 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.12.012

[img] Text
Thomann et al. - 2017 - A census to determine the prevalence and risk factors for caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus and visnamaedi vi.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to registered users only
Available under License Publisher holds Copyright.

Download (1MB)
[img]
Preview
Text
PREVET-16-270R2.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works (CC-BY-NC-ND).

Download (2MB) | Preview

In Switzerland, viruses belonging to two different phylogenetic groups of small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV) are currently circulating: the caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) and visna/maedi virus (VMV). In the past two decades, a mandatory national control program has led to a very low preva- lence of seropositivity, while completely eliminating CAE as a clinical manifestation. However, in order to reduce the high costs and effort associated with this program, adjustments based on the most recent epidemiological knowledge are needed. The purpose of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of CAEV and VMV using the newest diagnostic tools available, and to identify potential risk factors for infection with these viruses in Switzerland. For the prevalence estimation, a census was carried out including 10,696 farms with a total of 85,454 goats. Blood samples were analysed using a 3-step sero- logical testing algorithm consisting of Chekit ELISA, Western Blot and SU5 ELISA. A risk factor analysis was conducted using logistic regression models built with data obtained from a mail questionnaire, and serological results from the census. The apparent herd-level prevalences were 0.38%, 2.77%, and 3.04% for CAEV, VMV and SRLV, respectively. Animal-level prevalences were 0.06% for CAEV, 0.55% for VMV, and 0.61% for SRLV. No statistically significant risk factors associated with CAEV or VMV infection were identified. However, the proportional high number of CAEV seropositive dwarf goats, in relation to their population size, could indicate that these hobby breeds may slip through some of the official controls. For an infection with SRLV, a medium herd size (7–40 goats) was found to be protective, compared with smaller (OR = 1.90, p = 0.034) and larger herds (OR = 1.95, p = 0.038). In conclusion, considering that all CAEV positive animals were culled, these results imply that CAEV is no longer actively spreading and has successfully been controlled in Switzerland. However, given the uncertain pathogenic potential of VMV in goats, future surveillance should also be taking into account the not insignificant number of VMV circulating in the Swiss goat population.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

05 Veterinary Medicine > Research Foci > Veterinary Public Health / Herd Health Management
05 Veterinary Medicine > Research Foci > Host-Pathogen Interaction
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH) > Veterinary Public Health 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)
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH)

Graduate School:

Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB)

UniBE Contributor:

Thomann, Beat Stefan, Falzon, Laura Cristina, Bertoni, Giuseppe, Vogt, Hans-Rudolf, Schüpbach-Regula, Gertraud Irene, Magouras, Ioannis

Subjects:

600 Technology > 630 Agriculture
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

0167-5877

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Beat Stefan Thomann

Date Deposited:

06 Jul 2017 16:12

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 23:28

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.12.012

PubMed ID:

28107881

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.94625

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/94625

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback