News Archive – June to July 2009
- 1 July 2009 – Bluetongue in the Middle East, Israel BTV-8, Oman BTV-8, 1
- 20 June 2009 – Oman, Bluetongue in wild and domestic ruminants, BTV-1,4,8,16
- 4 June 2009 – Ovine Bluetongue, Israel, BTV-24
1 July 2009
Latest on Israeli and Oman isolates
Information on VP-2 sequencing of the BTV-8 strain recently identified in Israel and the BTV-8 and BTV-1 strains recently identified in Oman:
The Israeli strain of BTV-8 showed a 99.7 per cent similarity in its VP-2 sequence with the strain of BTV-8 isolated from the Netherlands in 2006. It is therefore likely that the Israeli BTV-8 strain is derived from the recent European outbreak of BTV-8. Another possibility (but less likely) is that the Israeli BTV-8 could be the source of the BTV-8 outbreak in Europe.
The Oman BTV-8 strain showed a 95.2 per cent similarity in its VP-2 sequence to the strain of BTV-8 isolated from the Netherlands in 2006 indicating that it is a western strain from a similar lineage to the European BTV-8, but it is not derived from the European BTV-8 strain.
The Oman BTV-1 strain is distinct from all other BTV-1 strains in the reference collection at IAH, Pirbright and, although it is a western strain, it is not derived from the BTV-1 strain that is currently circulating in Europe.
Therefore the Oman introductions of BTV-1 and 8 are likely to be from Africa (not Europe), to which Oman is geographically close. Israel could either be a source of the BTV-8 in Europe (perhaps unlikely) or more likely have a BTV-8 infection derived from Europe (probably due to the movement of
BTV-8 infected animals into the region).
This work was carried out in the Arbovirology Molecular Research Group and the Community Reference laboratory CRL) for Bluetongue, Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright, UK.
20 June 2009
Oman – Bluetongue in wild and domestic ruminants, serotypes BTV-1, 4, 8, 16
Information received on 17 Jun 2009 from Dr Ali Abdullah Mohammed Al-Sahmi, Assistant Director General, Department of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Muscat, Oman
Read full OIE report…
4 June 2009
Bluetongue in Israel
Bluetongue, serotype 24, outbreak in sheep in Israel. Information received on 29 May 2009 from Dr Moshe Chaimovitz, Director, Veterinary Services and Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developement, BEIT DAGAN, Israel.
Read full OIE report…
Information from www.promedmail.org
