Dynamics of viral spread in bluetongue virus infected calves

The kinetics of viremia and sites of viral replication in bluetongue virus (BTV) infected calves were characterized by virus isolation, serology and immunofluorescence staining procedures. In addition, the role of the regional lymph node and lymphatics draining inoculated skin in the pathogenesis of BTV infection was determined by analyzing efferent lymph collected from indwelling cannulas. Viremia persisted for 35 to 42 days after inoculation (DAI) and virus co-circulated with neutralizing antibodies for 23 to 26 days. Virus was first isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells at 3 DAI, after stimulation of PBM cells with interleukin 2 and mitogen. BTV was frequently isolated from erythrocytes, platelets and stimulated PBM cells but never from granulocytes and rarely from plasma during viremia. Virus was consistently isolated from erythrocytes late in the course of veremia. Interruption of efferent lymph flow by cannulation delayed the onset of viremia to 7 DAI. BTV was infrequently isolated from lymph cells, and few fluorescence positive cells were observed after lymph and PBM cells were labelled with a BTV-specific monoclonal antibody. Virus was isolated from spleen by 4 DAI and most tissues by 6 DAI, whereas virus was isolated from bone marrow only at 10 DAI. Virus was not isolated from any tissue after termination of viremia. It is concluded that primary viral replication occurred in the local lymph node and BTV then was transported in low titer to secondary sites of replication via infected lymph and PBM cells. We speculate that virus replication in spleen resulted in release of virus into the circulation and non-selective infection of blood cells which disseminated BTV to other tissues. Virus association with erythrocytes likely was responsible for prolonged viremia, although infected erythrocytes eventually were cleared from the circulation and persistent BTV infection of calves did not occur.     

Humoral immune response of calves to bluetongue virus infection

Humoral immune responses of 7 calves to bluetongue virus (BTV) infection were evaluated by plaque-reduction assay and immunoblotting. Most readily interpretable results were obtained with the immunoblot assay when colostrum-deprived calves were used, and sera were reacted with proteins in partially purified extracts of BTV. Viremia persisted in calves for 35 to 56 days, and BTV coexisted in blood for several weeks with virus-specific neutralizing antibody. Calves developed antibody to virus protein 2, the major determinant of virus neutralization, at 14 to 28 days after inoculation; this time interval also coincided with the appearance of neutralizing antibody in serum. Virus clearance in BTV-infected calves did not coincide with humoral immune responses to protein 2 or other virion proteins.     

Attempts to establish congenital bluetongue virus infections in calves.

Three bovine fetuses were inoculated in utero with approximately 10(3) plaque forming units of type 11 bluetongue virus. The gestational ages of the fetuses at the time of inoculation were 106, 113 and 122 days. They were spontaneously aborted 104, 65 and 109 days later, respectively, and the first and third of these fetuses were recovered. There was no grossly normal cerebral tissue, the meninges formed fluid filled sacs, and the cerebellums were reduced in size. Bluetongue virus was not isolated from the fetuses but the older one had neutralizing antibody. The three dams developed neutralizing antibody to bluetongue virus. The present work supports the observation by others that early fetal infections with bluetongue virus normally result in severe central nervous system damage and not in clinically normal, persistently infected calves.     

蓝舌病病毒甘肃分离株的定型研究

继利用蚀斑抑制中和试验对蓝舌病病毒山东分离株（L001）进行血清型鉴定后，又对蓝舌病病毒甘肃分离株进行了血清型鉴定，证实甘肃分离株为蓝舌病病毒11型。     

我国蓝舌病病毒血清24型毒株的分离与遗传特征分析

掌握云南省蓝舌病病毒(BTV)的活动情况与流行毒株的遗传特征。2012—2015年,在云南省的师宗县、江城县与芒市分别设立3个监控点,进行BTV的分离。自监控动物采集的BTV核酸阳性血液通过"鸡胚-C6/36细胞-BHK细胞"接种的方式进行病毒分离;采用RT-PCR与中和试验进行分离病毒的血清型鉴定;设计特异性引物对分离病毒的Seg-2、Seg-3、Seg-7与Seg-6基因节段进行RT-PCR扩增与克隆测序。2012—2015年,从云南省的师宗县、江城县与芒市分别分离获得3株BTV-24型毒株。分离病毒的Seg-2、Seg-3、Seg-7与Seg-6序列系统发育分析显示:我国毒株的Seg-2与BTV-24型参考毒株聚为一簇,而Seg-6与BTV-10型毒株聚为一簇;我国毒株的Seg-3在系统发生树上划分为"东方型"地域型,Seg-7在系统发生树上形成一个独立于其他地域型的分支。本试验报道了我国BTV-24型毒株的分离与Seg-2、Seg-3、Seg-6与Seg-7序列特征,结果表明,我国BTV-24型毒株的Seg-6基因节段与BTV-10型毒株发生了基因重配;Seg-7具有独特的遗传特征,形成了一个新的Seg-7地域型,暂定为"Chinese topotype"。本试验为进一步开展BTV-24型的流行病学、感染特性与疫苗的研究奠定基础。     

Differentiation between field and vaccine strain of bluetongue virus serotype 16

In August 2000, bluetongue virus (BTV) appeared for the first time in Sardinia and, since then, the infection spread across Sicily and into the mainland of Italy involving at the beginning serotypes 2 and 9 and then, from 2002, 4 and 16. To reduce direct losses due to disease and indirect losses due to new serotype circulation, the 2004 Italian vaccination campaign included the modified-live vaccines against BTV-4 and 16 produced by Onderstepoort Biological Product (OBP), South Africa. Few months after the end of the campaign, BTV-16 was reported broadly in the country and the need of differentiating field from the BTV-16 vaccine isolate became crucial. In this study, the gene segments 2, 5, 6 and 10 of both the Italian and vaccine BTV-16 strains were sequenced and their molecular relationship determined. As sequences of segment 5 were those showing the highest differences (17.3%), it was possible to develop a new diagnostic tool able to distinguish the Italian BTV-16 NS1 gene from that of the homologous vaccine strain. The procedure based on the use of a RT-PCR and the subsequent sequencing of the amplified product showed a high degree of sensitivity and specificity when samples from either BTV-16 vaccinated or infected sheep were tested.     

Genetic and physiological characterization of temperature-sensitive mutants of bluetongue virus.

Complementation studies were carried out, using temperature-sensitive (t-s) mutants of blue-tongue virus (BTV). The results proved to be inconclusive as only low indices of complementation were obtained. No discrepancy was found between the previous classification of these mutants in 6 recombination classes and the complementation data recored. In general, the t-s mutants require a latent growth period of 16-20 h at 28 degrees C and maximum titres can be demonstrated 40-48 h post-infection. One mutant, (F211), however, consistently had a growth lag phase of 32 h. Mutants of the 6 recombination groups were further classified into 2 groups by temperature-shift studies. One calss of mutants expressed their t-s lesion prior to 24 h and the other class only after 24 h post-infection. Mutant F73 was found to be defective in its ability to synthesize ssRNA at a late stage in the replication cycle at the non-permissive temperature.     

Bluetongue in cattle: effects of vector-transmitted bluetongue virus on calves previously infected in utero.

Three of 7 principal calves, after a challenge of immunity exposure by bites of bluetongue (BT) virus-infected Culicoides variipennis, became latently infected with BT virus. These calves were born to heifers infected with the homologous virus by bites of C variipennis at 60 or 120 days' gestation. Latent BT virus infection was detected by isolation of BT virus from washed erythrocyte samples obtained from the calves at 57, 100 to 102, 200 to 202, 300 to 302, and 400 to 402 days after challenge of immunity and from 1 of the calves over 5 years after challenge of immunity. The 3 latently infected calves were healthy; 2 were immunologically competent and 1 was immunologically incompetent to develop detectable BT virus antibodies in their blood. Bluetongue virus infection was detected (by viral isolation) in 2 other principal calves during the challenge of immunity, but they were not considered latently infected. The latter 2 calves were immunologically incompetent to develop detectable BT virus antibodies.     

Comparison of virologic and serologic responses of lambs and calves infected with bluetongue virus serotype 10

Four lambs and 3 calves, seronegative to bluetongue virus (BTV), were inoculated intravenously with a highly plaque-purified strain of BTV Serotype 10. A single calf and lamb served as controls and were inoculated with uninfected cell culture lysate. All BTV-inoculated lambs exhibited mild clinical manifestations of bluetongue, whereas infected calves were asymptomatic. Viremia persisted in BTV-infected lambs for 35-42 days, and for 42-56 days in BTV-infected calves. Neutralizing antibodies were first detected in sera collected at Day 14 post-inoculation (PI) from 2 BTV-infected calves and all 4 infected lambs, and at Day 28 PI in the remaining calf. The appearance of neutralizing antibody in serum did not coincide with clearance of virus from blood; BTV and specific neutralizing antibody coexisted in peripheral blood of infected lambs and calves for as long as 28 days. The sequential development, specificity and intensity of virus protein-specific humoral immune responses of lambs and calves were evaluated by immunoprecipitation of [35S]-labelled proteins in BTV-infected cell lysates by sera collected from inoculated animals at bi-weekly intervals PI. Sera from infected lambs and calves reacted most consistently with BTV structural proteins VP2 and VP7, and nonstructural protein NS2, and less consistently with structural protein VP5, and nonstructural protein NS1. Lambs developed humoral immune responses to individual BTV proteins more rapidly than calves, and one calf had especially weak virus protein-specific humoral immune responses; viremia persisted longer in this calf than any other animal in the study. The clearance of virus from the peripheral blood of BTV-infected lambs and calves is not caused simply by the production of virus-specific neutralizing antibody, however the intensity of humoral immune responses to individual BTV proteins might influence the duration of viremia in different animals.     

Immunobiology of bluetongue virus

Following BTV infection or vaccination, sheep develop both anti-virus antibody (which may include neutralizing antibody) and a cellular immune response. Yet, it still is unclear what aspects of the response are most critical in preventing infection and disease from this virus. This is, in part, the result of a lack of knowledge of all of the viral virulence factors. However, with the current work involving subunit vaccines and the efforts to more carefully characterize virulence factors and tissue tropism, there will be a more thorough understanding of the immunobiology of the Bluetongue virus.     

Bluetongue in cattle: repeated exposure of two immunologically tolerant calves to bluetongue virus by vector bites.

A heifer and steer that were immunologically tolerant to bluetongue (BT) virus became immunologically competent after repeated exposures by bites of BT virus-infected Culicoides variipennis. Immunologic tolerance ended in the heifer at 25 months of age, after the 2nd exposure to the virus, and in the steer at 22 months, after the 4th exposure. High hemic concentrations of BT virus were detected in both animals after they became immunologically competent, but neither developed an overt BT clinical response. The steer died suddenly and extensive pathologic changes were observed at necropsy.