Louping ill in goats, Spain, 2011

Abstract

Although louping ill affects mainly sheep, a 2011 outbreak in northern Spain occurred among goats. Histopathologic lesions and molecular genetics identified a new strain of louping ill virus, 94% identical to the strain from Britain. Surveillance is needed to minimize risk to domestic and wildlife species and humans.

Figure 1

Nonsuppurative encephalitis in goat affected by louping ill. A) Cerebellum with necrosis of Purkinje cells. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain; scale bar = 100 µm. Inset: necrosis of Purkinje cells. H&E stain; scale bar = 20 µm. B) Midbrain. Area of neurophagia (arrow) surrounded by microglial cells. Necrosis of neurons can be also seen. H&E stain; scale bar = 50 µm. C) Lymphoid perivascular cuff in midbrain. H&E stain; scale bar = 50 µm. D) Spinal cord, gray matter. Focal microgliosis (crosses) and neurons undergoing necrosis (arrows). H&E stain; scale bar = 50 µm.

Figure 2

Phylogenetic relationships of the Asturian strain louping ill virus with representative tick-born encephalitis viruses. Phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary analyses of the virus were conducted using MEGA version 5 (9). Scale bar indicates branch length, proportional to the number of nucleotide substitutions. The Three Arch Rock Island virus was included as an outgroup.