Assessing the probability of introduction and transmission of lumpy skin disease virus within the United Kingdom

Several emerging exotic diseases are currently oscillating on the eastern borders of the European Union (EU) including the bovine pathogen Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV). Given the recent transboundary spread of LSDV into the EU, assessing the probability of further expansion is an important part of EU surveillance and can inform policy regarding risk mitigation priorities. This qualitative assessment focuses on the probability of introduction and onward transmission of LSDV into the United Kingdom (UK) for the time period June 2017 to June 2018. Overall the probability of introduction was considered, at most, to be very low. The probability of onward transmission was considered highest for vector mediated routes either via contact of an infected vector with susceptible cattle or contact of a competent native vector with an infected cattle. Factors with high uncertainty were identified to emphasise their impact on the assessment conclusions and for future research requirements. Medium to high uncertainty surrounds the probability of introduction to the UK via several of the routes assessed, in particular, the species of vectors involved and the illegal/legal import of meat and milk products; all estimates made consequential to these probabilities are therefore underpinned by high uncertainty. Whilst the assessment was UK centric the knowledge gaps are relevant to the probability of introduction and spread of LSDV in any geographical region. The value of estimating uncertainty lies in the identification of research required to make conclusions more robust

Bluetongue and Epizootic Haemorrhagic Disease virus in local breeds of cattle in Kenya

AbstractThe presence of bluetongue virus (BTV) and Epizootic Haemorrhagic Disease virus (EHDV) in indigenous calves in western Kenya was investigated. Serum was analysed for BTV and EHDV antibodies. The population seroprevalences for BTV and EHDV for calves at 51weeks of age were estimated to be 0.942 (95% CI 0.902–0.970) and 0.637 (95% CI 0.562–0.710), respectively, indicating high levels of circulating BTV and EHDV. The odds ratio of being positive for BTV if EHDV positive was estimated to be 2.57 (95% CI 1.37–4.76). When 99 calves were tested for BTV and EHDV RNA by real-time RT-PCR, 88.9% and 63.6% were positive, respectively. Comparison of the serology and real-time RT-PCR results revealed an unexpectedly large number of calves that were negative by serology but positive by real-time RT-PCR for EHDV. Eight samples positive for BTV RNA were serotyped using 24 serotype-specific real-time RT-PCR assays. Nine BTV serotypes were detected, indicating that the cattle were infected with a heterogeneous population of BTVs. The results show that BTV and EHDV are highly prevalent, with cattle being infected from an early age

Space discontinuous Galerkin method for shallow water flows - kinetic and HLLC flux, and potential vorticity generation

In this paper, a second order space discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method is presented for the numerical solution of inviscid shallow water flows over varying bottom topography. Novel in the implementation is the use of HLLC and kinetic numerical fluxes in combination with a dissipation operator, applied only locally around discontinuities to limit spurious numerical oscillations. Numerical solutions over (non-)uniform meshes are verified against exact solutions; the numerical error in the $L_2$-norm and the convergence of the solution are computed. Bore-vortex interactions are studied analytically and numerically to validate the model; these include bores as "breaking waves'' in a channel and a bore traveling over a conical and Gaussian hump. In these complex numerical test cases, we correctly predict the generation of potential vorticity by non-uniform bores. Finally, we successfully validate the numerical model against measurements of steady oblique hydraulic jumps in a channel with a contraction. In the latter case, the kinetic flux is shown to be more robust

Neutralising antibody responses in cattle and sheep following booster vaccination with two commercial inactivated bluetongue virus serotype 8 vaccines

Cattle and sheep that had received a primary course of vaccination with an inactivated bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) vaccine were booster vaccinated 6 or 12 months later with the homologous vaccine or an alternative inactivated BTV-8 vaccine and neutralising antibody responses were determined. Antibody titres to the alternative vaccine were significantly higher than to the homologous vaccine (P = 0.013) in cattle. There was no significant difference between the antibody responses to alternative and homologous vaccines in sheep. These data indicate that cattle and sheep primed with one inactivated BTV-8 vaccine may be effectively boosted with an alternative commercial inactivated BTV-8 vacci

A competitive ELISA for the detection of group-specific antibody to equine encephalosis virus

Please read abstract in article.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jvirometab201

Studies of epidemiology and seroprevalence of bovine noroviruses in Germany

Jena virus (JV) is a bovine enteric calicivirus that causes diarrhea in calves. The virus is approximately 30 nm in diameter and has a surface morphology similar to the human Norwalk virus. The genome sequence of JV was recently described, and the virus has been assigned to the genus Norovirus of the family Caliciviridae. In the present study, the JV capsid gene encoded by open reading frame 2 was cloned into the baculovirus transfer vector pFastBac 1, and this was used to transform Escherichia coli to generate a recombinant bacmid. Transfection of insect cells with the recombinant baculovirus DNA resulted in expression of the JV capsid protein. The recombinant JV capsid protein undergoes self-assembly into virus-like particles (VLPs) similar to JV virions in size and appearance. JV VLPs were released into the cell culture supernatant, concentrated, and then purified by CsCl equilibrium gradient centrifugation. Purified JV VLPs were used to hyperimmunize laboratory animals. An antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed and characterized initially with clinical specimens containing defined human noroviruses and bovine diarrheal samples from calves experimentally infected with JV; the ELISA was specific only for JV. The ELISA was used to screen 381 diarrheal samples collected from dairy herds in Thuringia, Hesse, and Bavaria, Germany, from 1999 to 2002; 34 of these samples (8.9%) were positive for JV infection. The unexpectedly high prevalence of JV was confirmed in a seroepidemiological study using 824 serum or plasma samples screened using an anti-JV ELISA, which showed that 99.1% of cattle from Thuringia have antibodies to JV