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Pathogens
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Small Ruminant Lentiviruses (SRLVs): Genetic Diversity, Pathogenicity and Diagnostic Approach
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Small Ruminant Lentiviruses (SRLVs): Genetic Diversity, Pathogenicity and Diagnostic Approach

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2022) | Viewed by 4880

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Georgia Brellou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54627 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: involve pathology (gross, histopathology and immunohistochemistry) related to: aging brain, neurodegeneration (Scrapie); domestic animal infectious and parasitic diseases (e.g. SRLVs, PRRSV, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Toxoplasmosis, Leishmaniasis), IBD's

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Lentiviruses and their hosts have worldwide distribution and are known to cause a wide range of slowly progressive diseases affecting humans, nonhuman primates, crows, sheep, goats, and other animal species. In ruminants, the genus lentivirus (family Retroviridae) includes a heterogeneous group of viruses known as small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs), affecting goat and sheep. Maedi-Visna virus (MVV) and caprine arthritis–encephalitis virus (CAEV) are SRLVs infecting sheep and goats, respectively. Numerous studies have been devoted to the high genetic diversity and the pathogenesis of the diseases caused by SRLVs. The latter are able to cross the interspecies barrier, infecting sheep and goats through horizontal and lactogenic routes. Regarding infection among domestic and wild small ruminants, phylogenetic reconstructions support the existence of SRLV cross-species transmission. Infection of SRLVs usually leads to reproductive losses, reduction in growth rate and milk production, etc. It also appears that different strains present analogous clinical and gross, histopathological, and immunohistochemical pattern. Thus, SRLVs represent an interesting, albeit murky research topic.

Since no vaccines or treatment are available, prevention based on dependable and sensitive diagnostic methods constitutes an important issue. Laboratory diagnosis is based on routine serological and molecular assays. Further, histopathology and immunohistochemistry have been proven to be useful tools adding to the diagnosis and understating of SRLV pathogenesis, especially via the identification of novel organ and cellular targets.

This Special Issue of Pathogens aims to handle the broad range of recent advances in research on virulence mechanisms, detection, and prevention of lentiviruses in small ruminants, as well as to shed light on interspecies infection.

We welcome original papers and/or review papers that include (but are not limited to) the following topics of interest on SRLVs: epidemiology, pathology, disease pathogenesis, virus–host interactions, virulence factors, clinical aspects, immune response, and diagnostic methods. 

Dr. Georgia Brellou
Guest Editor

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. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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
  • Maedi-Visna virus
  • caprine arthritis encephalitis virus
  • genetic diversity
  • pathogenicity
  • target organs
  • ELISA
  • PCR
  • diagnosis
  • pathology
  • immune response

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 373 KiB  
Article
Loss of Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) Herd Accreditation: Characteristics, Diagnostic Approach, and Specific Follow-Up Scenarios on Large Dairy Goat Farms
by Karianne Peterson, René van den Brom, Marian Aalberts, Carlijn ter Bogt-Kappert and Piet Vellema
Pathogens 2022, 11(12), 1541; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens11121541 - 15 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1374
Abstract
The retrovirus causing caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE), a slowly progressive inflammatory disease in goats, belongs to the group of small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) which cause lifelong infections that ought to be avoided for animal welfare as well as economic reasons. SRLV accreditation has [...] Read more.
The retrovirus causing caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE), a slowly progressive inflammatory disease in goats, belongs to the group of small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) which cause lifelong infections that ought to be avoided for animal welfare as well as economic reasons. SRLV accreditation has been in place for forty years in The Netherlands and is based on the screening of small ruminant sera for specific antibodies. This paper evaluates 38 dairy goat herds that lost CAEV accreditation between 2012 and 2022. The characteristics of these herds are discussed, and specific follow-up scenarios, depending on desired goals, are introduced. The herd size of the participating herds varies from approximately 400 to 4600 adult dairy goats. The larger herds tended to be more prone to lose herd accreditation and had more difficulties regaining accreditation. Possible routes of introduction are lined up. The Royal GD’s tailor-made approach and advice to support livestock farmers with herds that have lost CAE accreditation are discussed in detail. Specific emphasis is placed on the strategic deployment of various diagnostic tests (such as antibody ELISAs and PCR) in different media, such as (pooled) sera, (bulk)milk and tissue samples. Special attention is paid to the added value of retrospective bulk milk testing or the specific testing of groups based on housing and management, which enables the investigation of the moment of viral introduction and route of transmission into a herd. Furthermore, the prospective implementation of bulk milk and strategic pooled milk sample testing in the Dutch SRLV accreditation programs intensifies surveillance and enables the taking of swift action to prevent further transmission within and between herds. An appeal is made to share experiences to improve programs collectively, and to start research into the underlying mechanisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small Ruminant Lentiviruses (SRLVs): Genetic Diversity, Pathogenicity and Diagnostic Approach)
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21 pages, 1712 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Serological Methods and a New Real-Time Nested PCR for Small Ruminant Lentiviruses
by Jessica Schaer, Zeljko Cvetnic, Tomislav Sukalic, Sven Dörig, Martin Grisiger, Carmen Iscaro, Francesco Feliziani, Folke Pfeifer, Francesco Origgi, Reto Giacomo Zanoni and Carlos Eduardo Abril
Pathogens 2022, 11(2), 129; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens11020129 - 21 Jan 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2945
Abstract
Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs), i.e., CAEV and MVV, cause insidious infections with life-long persistence and a slowly progressive disease, impairing both animal welfare and productivity in affected herds. The complex diagnosis of SRLVs currently combines serological methods including whole-virus and peptide-based ELISAs and [...] Read more.
Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs), i.e., CAEV and MVV, cause insidious infections with life-long persistence and a slowly progressive disease, impairing both animal welfare and productivity in affected herds. The complex diagnosis of SRLVs currently combines serological methods including whole-virus and peptide-based ELISAs and Immunoblot. To improve the current diagnostic protocol, we analyzed 290 sera of animals originating from different European countries in parallel with three commercial screening ELISAs, Immunoblot as a confirmatory assay and five SU5 peptide ELISAs for genotype differentiation. A newly developed nested real-time PCR was carried out for the detection and genotype differentiation of the virus. Using a heat-map display of the combined results, the drawbacks of the current techniques were graphically visualized and quantified. The immunoblot and the SU5-ELISAs exhibited either unsatisfactory sensitivity or insufficient reliability in the differentiation of the causative viral genotype, respectively. The new truth standard was the concordance of the results of two out of three screening ELISAs and the PCR results for serologically false negative samples along with genotype differentiation. Whole-virus antigen-based ELISA showed the highest sensitivity (92.2%) and specificity (98.9%) among the screening tests, whereas PCR exhibited a sensitivity of 75%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small Ruminant Lentiviruses (SRLVs): Genetic Diversity, Pathogenicity and Diagnostic Approach)
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