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. 2019 May;66(3):1426-1431.
doi: 10.1111/tbed.13156. Epub 2019 Mar 19.

Western Bluetongue virus serotype 3 in Sardinia, diagnosis and characterization

S Cappai  1 , S Rolesu  1 , F Loi  1 , M Liciardi  1 , A Leone  2   3 , M Marcacci  2   3 , L Teodori  2   3 , I Mangone  2   3 , S Sghaier  4 , O Portanti  2   3 , G Savini  2   3 , A Lorusso  2   3
Affiliations

Western Bluetongue virus serotype 3 in Sardinia, diagnosis and characterization

S Cappai et al. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2019 May.

Abstract

Over the last 20 years, Italy has experienced multiple incursions of different serotypes of Bluetongue virus (BTV), a Culicoides-borne arbovirus, the causative agent of bluetongue (BT), a major disease of ruminants. The majority of these incursions originated from Northern Africa, likely because of wind-blown dissemination of infected midges. Here, we report the first identification of BTV-3 in Sardinia, Italy. BTV-3 circulation was evidenced in sentinel animals located in the province of Sud Sardegna on September 19, 2018. Prototype strain BTV-3 SAR2018 was isolated on cell culture. BTV-3 SAR2018 sequence and partial sequences obtained by next-generation sequencing from nucleic acids purified from the isolate and blood samples, respectively, were demonstrated to be almost identical (99-100% of nucleotide identity) to BTV-3 TUN2016 identified in Tunisia in 2016 and 2017, a scenario already observed in past incursions of other BTV serotypes originating from Northern Africa.

Keywords: Bluetongue virus serotype 3; Sardinia; characterization; diagnosis; next-generation sequencing.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map illustrating the confirmed or suspected BTV outbreaks (10th October 2018). Inset: location of the farms involved in the BTV‐3w outbreaks in the surroundings of the municipality of Teulada [Colour figure can be viewed at http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/]
Figure 2
Figure 2
Submandibular oedema, nasal discharge (a) crusted nasal mucosa and discharge (b) observed in two Sarda BTV‐3w‐positive individuals [Colour figure can be viewed at http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/]
Figure 3
Figure 3
Seg‐2 phylogenetic tree of western strains of BTV‐3. The tree was reconstructed using the maximum likelihood method implemented in the PhyML program (http://www.phylogeny.fr/). Parameters of analysis are available within the text. Eastern BTV‐3 strains have not been included. Bootstrap values ≥70 have been provided at the corresponding nodes. Accession numbers have been also provided. BTV‐3 SAR2018 is indicated by a black arrow [Colour figure can be viewed at http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/]
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