Seroprevalence of Malignant Catarrhal Fever in Captive Wildebeest (Connochaetes spp.) in France
2018 Joint EAZWV/AAZV/Leibniz-IZW Conference
Katia Ortiz1,2, DMV, MS; Justine Javaux3, BSc; Barbara Blanc4, DMV; Alice Brunet1, DMV; Marie Simon5, DMV; Thierry Petit6, DMV; Sylvie Clavel7, DMV; Benjamin Lamglait8,9, DMV, MSc, DECZM (ZHM); Françoise Myster3, PhD, DMV; Hong Li10,11, PhD, DMV; Benjamin Dewals3, PhD, DMV
1Réserve zoologique de la Haute Touche, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Obterre, France; 2Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB-UMR-CNRS, MNHM, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France; 3Immunology-Vaccinology, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-FARAH, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium; 4FauneVet, Nantes, France; 5Zoo de Thoiry, Thoiry, France; 6Zoo de La Palmyre, Les Mathes, France; 7Zoo African Safari, Plaisance du Touch, France; 8Réserve Africaine de Sigean, Sigean, France; 9Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada; 10Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA; 11Animal Disease Research Unit, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
Abstract
Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) is a gammaherpesvirus carried asymptomatically by wildebeest (Connochaetes spp.) in sub-Saharan Africa.5,6 Although asymptomatic in wildebeest, A1HV-1 infection in a number of other ruminant species causes a severe and lethal lymphoproliferative disease named wildebeest-derived malignant catarrhal fever (WD- MCF).1,2,4 Several endangered species of captive ruminants are highly susceptible to developing WD-MCF if infected by AlHV-1, which is of critical concern in zoological parks. Although no vaccine is currently available against WD-MCF, physical separation of species has shown to be successful since no wildebeest-derived WD-MCF cases have lately been reported in France. Here we investigated the seroprevalence of AlHV-1 in 55 captive wildebeests (Connochaetes taurinus and Connochaetes gnou) from 5 different zoos in France.3 We found 26/55 (47%) positive animals, demonstrating that AlHV-1 infection is present in captive wildebeest. Interestingly, the repartition of positive cases was not homogenous between zoos with 100% of seropositive animals in two parks. These results further highlight the importance of considering MCF as a threat for susceptible species and encourage for testing AlHV-1 prevalence in wildebeest by serology and potentially PCR.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the team of each participating institution.
Literature Cited
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