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Animals
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Small Ruminants and Lentivirus Research: Future Directions
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Small Ruminants and Lentivirus Research: Future Directions

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Small Ruminants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 4476

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Monika Olech

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Veterinary Reserach Institute, Pulawy, Poland
Interests: small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV); Maedi-visna (MVV); caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV); diagnosis, host–virus interactions
Prof. Dr. Jacek Kuźmak

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Veterinary Reserach Institute, Pulawy, Poland
Interests: ruminant retroviruses; epidemiology; diagnosis; host–virus interaction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV), which include Maedi-visna virus (MVV) and caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV), are a heterogeneous group of viruses that can infect sheep, goats and wild ruminants. SRLV causes persistent systemic diseases affecting the lungs, mammary glands, synovial joints and central nervous system, leading to significant economic losses. Because SRLV does not cause high mortality, they are not considered a relevant issue in many countries and are not subjected to official control plans, although both diseases are notifiable to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). The relationship between small ruminants and SRLV is complex. The severity of the infection depends on the viral strain and the genetic background of the host. Early and definitive diagnosis of SRLV infections is important for any control and eradication efforts; however, a ‘gold standard' for the detection of SRLV infections does not exist. The main barrier to the successful development of a universally accepted diagnostic test is the genetic variability of SRLV associated with mutations, recombination and cross-species transmission, genes associated with resistance or susceptibility to infection with SRLV and with the innate and adaptive immunity of the host.

In this special issue, we invite the submission of original research or review articles, short notes, and communications on different aspects of infection with SRLV including epidemiology, reservoir animals and characterization of the virus and route of transmission. However, contributions concerning diagnostic tools for the diagnosis of infection with SRLV and studies on virus–host interactions, innate and acquired immune responses and vaccine development are also welcome. You are cordially invited to contribute on this topic in order to improve the knowledge of lentivirus infections in small ruminants.

Dr. Monika Olech
Prof. Dr. Jacek Kuźmak
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV)
  • Maedi-visna (MVV)
  • caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV)
  • sheep
  • goat
  • wild ruminants
  • diagnosis
  • management strategies
  • welfare
  • vaccine

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 707 KiB  
Article
A Combined Approach for the Characterization of Small Ruminant Lentivirus Strains Circulating in the Islands and Mainland of Greece
by Ilias Bouzalas, Evangelia D. Apostolidi, Daniela Scalas, Evangelia Davidopoulou, Taxiarchis Chassalevris, Sergio Rosati and Barbara Colitti
Animals 2024, 14(7), 1119; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14071119 - 06 Apr 2024
Viewed by 403
Abstract
Small ruminant lentiviruses are a group of viruses infecting goat and sheep worldwide. These viruses exhibit an extraordinary degree of genetic and antigenic variability that severely influence in vivo and in vitro features, as well as diagnostic test results. Small ruminant farming is [...] Read more.
Small ruminant lentiviruses are a group of viruses infecting goat and sheep worldwide. These viruses exhibit an extraordinary degree of genetic and antigenic variability that severely influence in vivo and in vitro features, as well as diagnostic test results. Small ruminant farming is the most important animal farming business in Greece, with a high impact on the Greek primary economy. Although SRLV infection and its impact on animal production are well established in the country, little is known about the circulating SRLV strains and their prevalence. The aim of this study was to characterize SRLVs circulating in Greece with a combined serological and molecular approach, using the bulk milk matrix collected from 60 farms in different municipalities. This study allowed us to estimate a seroprevalence of around 52% at the herd level. The B1, B2 and A3 subtypes and a novel A viral cluster were identified. Moreover, the amplicon sequencing method allowed us to identify more than one viral subtype in a sample. These results again confirm the high variability of these viruses and highlight the importance of the constant monitoring of viral evolution, in particular in antigens of diagnostic interest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small Ruminants and Lentivirus Research: Future Directions)
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14 pages, 2553 KiB  
Article
Serological and Molecular Characterization of Small Ruminant Lentiviruses in Morocco
by Barbara Colitti, Soukaina Daif, Imane Choukri, Daniela Scalas, Anniken Jerre, Ikhlass El Berbri, Ouafaa Fassi Fihri and Sergio Rosati
Animals 2024, 14(4), 550; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14040550 - 07 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 562
Abstract
Recent studies that investigated the origins of SRLV strains offered new insights into their distribution among domestic ruminants. The aim of the study was to investigate SRLV circulation in Morocco. A total of 51 farms were selected in different geographical locations and tested [...] Read more.
Recent studies that investigated the origins of SRLV strains offered new insights into their distribution among domestic ruminants. The aim of the study was to investigate SRLV circulation in Morocco. A total of 51 farms were selected in different geographical locations and tested by screening and genotyping ELISA. Whole blood was used for DNA extraction and nested gag PCR. The sample size allowed for an estimation of prevalence lower than 20% (CI 95%). Surprisingly, a large proportion of screening-positive samples were not correctly serotyped. Sanger and NGS amplicon sequencing approaches allowed us to obtain new sequences even from difficult-to-amplify samples. The serological data support the evidence of an intrinsic difficulty of SRLV to spread, likely due to management practices. The low rate of success by genotyping ELISA led us to suppose that divergent strains might have escaped from diagnostic tools, as partially confirmed by the evidence of an A subtype carrying a mismatch in serotyping epitope. The sequence analysis revealed the circulation of novel B and recombinant A/B subtypes. This study highlights the importance of monitoring viral sequences and their evolution to develop specific diagnostic tests, particularly in countries where control measures are in place. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small Ruminants and Lentivirus Research: Future Directions)
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16 pages, 1904 KiB  
Article
First Molecular Characterization of Small Ruminant Lentiviruses Detected in Romania
by Monika Olech, Dragoş Hodor, Corina Toma, Andrada Negoescu and Marian Taulescu
Animals 2023, 13(23), 3718; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13233718 - 30 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 797
Abstract
Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) are a group of retroviruses that cause multisystem chronic diseases in goats and sheep and lead to production losses in these animals, negatively affecting animal health and welfare. Although molecular characterization of SRLV field isolates has been performed in [...] Read more.
Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) are a group of retroviruses that cause multisystem chronic diseases in goats and sheep and lead to production losses in these animals, negatively affecting animal health and welfare. Although molecular characterization of SRLV field isolates has been performed in many countries, there is currently no information on SRLV genotypes circulating in sheep and goats in Romania. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to conduct a molecular and phylogenetic analysis of SRLVs from Romania and determine the degree of genetic relatedness of the obtained sequences to other known SRLV reference strains. A total of 81 sheep lung tissue samples and 41 sheep lung lymph node samples were tested using nested real-time PCR, and samples positive for real-time PCR were used to amplify an 800 bp gag-pol fragment and an overlapping 625 bp fragment of the gag gene. Pairwise DNA distance and phylogenetic analysis showed that the Romanian SRLV strains were closely related to the A2 and A3 strains based on gag-pol sequences and to the A3 and A17 subtypes based on gag sequences. No recombination events were found. Our results revealed that the Romanian sequences have similar epitope patterns to other existing subtypes, although E/K and R/K mutations in epitope 3 were found only in the Romanian sequences, which may have potential value in serological diagnosis. This study is the first report on the genetic characterization of SRLV strains circulating in Romania and provides new information on SRLV heterogeneity. Further detailed studies should be conducted to better understand the divergence of SRLV Romanian strains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small Ruminants and Lentivirus Research: Future Directions)
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12 pages, 5794 KiB  
Communication
Isolation and Identification of Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus from Animals in the Republic of Mordovia
by Olga Kolbasova, Timofey Sevskikh, Ilya Titov and Denis Kolbasov
Animals 2023, 13(14), 2290; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13142290 - 13 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1287
Abstract
This article presents the results of virological and genetic studies of an isolate of caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE) virus from the republic of Mordovia, Russian Federation. The isolate was found during monitoring studies of goat blood samples for the viral genome, and the [...] Read more.
This article presents the results of virological and genetic studies of an isolate of caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE) virus from the republic of Mordovia, Russian Federation. The isolate was found during monitoring studies of goat blood samples for the viral genome, and the presence of antibodies to lentiviruses was detected. According to the recommendation of the OIE, the positive result of PCR was confirmed with nucleotide sequencing. It was found that the obtained nucleotide sequence is identical to the genome of small ruminant lentiviruses presented in the GenBank database. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the isolate “Mordovia-2018” was included in the same cluster with an isolate from the Tver region of the Russian Federation detected in 2008. The sequence of the fragment of the env-gene of the isolate from the republic of Mordovia is available in GenBank under the number MN186380.1. To isolate the virus, a fraction of peripheral blood monocyte cells from the animal’s blood was added to a monolayer of lamb synovial membrane cell culture, and ten passages were carried out. The first manifestations of the cytopathic effect were observed after the third passage on the eighth day of cultivation in the form of single large cells of irregular shape with 5–7 nuclei. At the seventh passage, multiple syncytium with 7–12 nuclei were observed. At subsequent passage levels, the formation of syncytium containing more than 10–14 nuclei was observed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small Ruminants and Lentivirus Research: Future Directions)
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16 pages, 3247 KiB  
Article
Seroepidemiology of Maedi-Visna in Intensively Reared Dairy Sheep: A Two-Year Prospective Study
by Aphrodite I. Kalogianni, Ilias Bouzalas, Ioannis Bossis and Athanasios I. Gelasakis
Animals 2023, 13(14), 2273; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13142273 - 12 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 892
Abstract
The objective of this study is to prospectively evaluate the seroepidemiology of maedi-visna (MV) infections in intensively reared dairy sheep. A total of 407 purebred Chios and Lacaune ewes from four farms were surveyed for two consecutive years and were serologically tested semiannually [...] Read more.
The objective of this study is to prospectively evaluate the seroepidemiology of maedi-visna (MV) infections in intensively reared dairy sheep. A total of 407 purebred Chios and Lacaune ewes from four farms were surveyed for two consecutive years and were serologically tested semiannually with an indirect ELISA at pre-mating and pre-lambing. The farms’ structure and management practices were similar and animal traits (age, breed, and production stage) were recorded. Based on the serological status, morbidity frequency measures were estimated, and ewes were categorized as constantly seronegative, constantly seropositive, seroconverted, seroreverted, or as animals with an intermittent presence of antibodies. During the study, period seroprevalence, incidence rate, and cumulative incidence were 84.8%, 33.6 new cases per 100 sheep-semesters, and 64.2%. Point-seroprevalence ranged from 48.5% to 96.0% among the studied farms and sampling occasions, and they increased by age. Increased morbidity frequency measures indicate the significance of horizontal transmission in intensive dairy sheep farms. A remarkable percentage of infected animals seroreverted (8.1%) or presented an intermittent presence of antibodies (10.3%) during the study, confirming the risk of misdiagnosis in cross-sectional studies and in the currently implemented testing and elimination programs. The serological patterns observed in our study need to be considered when studying MV epidemiology and for the designing of efficient MV elimination programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small Ruminants and Lentivirus Research: Future Directions)
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