Schmallenberg virus

Schmallenberg virus, abbreviated SBV, is a virus that causes congenital malformations and stillbirths in cattle, sheep, goats, and possibly alpaca. It appears to be transmitted by midges (Culicoides spp.), which are likely to have been most active in causing the infection in the Northern Hemisphere summer and autumn of 2011, with animals subsequently giving birth from late 2011. Schmallenberg virus falls in the Simbu serogroup of orthobunyaviruses. It is considered to be most closely related to the Sathuperi and Douglas viruses. The virus is named after Schmallenberg, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, from where the first definitive sample was derived. It was first reported in October 2011. After Germany, it has also been detected in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Poland and Estonia. The virus has been recognised by the European Commission's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (German Research Institute for Animal Health). A risk assessment in December 2011 did not consider it likely to be a threat to human health, as other comparable viruses are not zoonotic. Immunity can possibly be acquired naturally against SBV. It is possible that the seasonality of the infection cycle would not entail a second epidemic circulation next year, due to the shortness of the viraemic period (about 4 to 6 days post exposure, longer in affected foetuses). Vaccination is a possible option for controlling the disease as a vaccine exists for the similar Akabane virus.