Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumSchmallenberg Virus Confirmed In N. Europe; Fetal Deformities, Stillbirths In Cattle, Sheep, Goats
Scientists in northern Europe are scrambling to learn more about a new virus that causes fetal malformations and stillbirths in cattle, sheep, and goats. For now, they dont have a clue about the viruss origins or why its suddenly causing an outbreak; in order to speed up the process, they want to share the virus and protocols for detecting it with anyone interested in studying the disease or developing diagnostic tools and vaccines.
The virus, provisionally named Schmallenberg virus after the German town from which the first positive samples came, was detected in November in dairy cows that had shown signs of infection with fever and a drastic reduction in milk production. Now it has also been detected in sheep and goats, and it has shown up at dozens of farms in neighboring Netherlands and in Belgium as well. According to the European Commissions Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, cases have been detected on 20 farms in Germany, 52 in the Netherlands, and 14 in Belgium. Many more suspected cases are being investigated. A lot of lambs are stillborn or have serious malformations, Wim van der Poel of the Dutch Central Veterinary Institute in Lelystad says. This is a serious threat to animal health in Europe.
We are taking this very, very seriously, adds Thomas Mettenleiter, head of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), the German federal animal health lab located on the island of Riems. The virus appears to be transmitted by midges (Culicoides spp.), and infections likely occurred in summer and autumn of last year, but fetuses that were exposed to the virus in the womb are only now being born. The first cases of lambs with congenital malformations such as hydrancephaly where parts of the brain are replaced by sacs filled with fluid and scoliosis (a curved spine) appeared before Christmas. Now, in some herds 20 percent to 50 percent of lambs show such malformations, Mettenleiter says. And most of these animals are born dead.
Scientists are bracing for many more cases to appear, especially in cattle, because bovine fetuses infected in summer 2011 would be expected to be born in February and March.
EDIT
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/01/new-animal-virus
phantom power
(25,966 posts)well, you know.
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)Dead_Parrot
(14,478 posts)If this spreads it'll be devastating.
AlecBGreen
(3,874 posts)hard to find a silver lining in this bit of news. I hope the scientists can find out whats up.
Dead_Parrot
(14,478 posts)...which is spread by biting midges: What's betting they're increasing their range in Europe with the warmer summers?
Nihil
(13,508 posts)Joy.