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Volume 18, Number 11—November 2012
Research

Lack of Evidence for Zoonotic Transmission of Schmallenberg Virus

Chantal Reusken1Comments to Author , Cees van den Wijngaard1, Paul van Beek, Martin Beer, Ruth Bouwstra, Gert-Jan Godeke, Leslie Isken, Hans van den Kerkhof, Wilfrid van Pelt, Wim van der Poel, Johan Reimerink, Peter Schielen, Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, Piet Vellema, Ankje de Vries, Inge Wouters, and Marion Koopmans
Author affiliations: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands (C. Reusken, C. van den Wijngaard, P. van Beek, G.-J. Godeke, L. Isken, H. van den Kerkhof, W. van Pelt, J. Reimerink, P. Schielen, A. de Vries, M. Koopmans); Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Insel Riems, Germany (M. Beer); Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen University and Research Centre, Lelystad, the Netherlands (R. Bouwstra, W. van der Poel); Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg (J. Schmidt-Chanasit); Animal Health Service, Deventer, the Netherlands (P. Vellema); and Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht, the Netherlands (I. Wouters)

Main Article

Table 4

Characteristics of participating farms and number of human participants in study to determine whether SBV can be zoonotically transmitted, the Netherlands*

Animal species† No. farms (no. animals/farm) [median]) Laboratory-confirmed SBV infection in animals, no. (%)
No. human participants
PCR VNT PCR and/or VNT Total (no. per farm) No. (%) from farms with laboratory-confirmed SBV infection
Sheep 69 (5–1,676 [83]) 48 (70) 44 (64) 61 (88) 130 (1–6) 112 (86)
Goat 4 (4–1144 [759]) 1 (25) 2 (50) 2 (50) 8 (1–4) 2 (25)
Cattle 50 (23–468 [136]) 4 (8) 37 (74) 39 (78) 96 (1–5) 78 (81)
Total 123 53 (43)‡ 83 (68)§ 102 (83) 234 192 (82)

*A total of 240 farms were invited to participate in the study (113 sheep, 7 goat, and 120 cattle farms; all were highly suspected to be SBV infected on the basis of pathologic findings consistent with typical malformations in calves or lambs). 123 (51%) farms responded. SBV, Schmallenburg virus; VNT, virus neutralization test.
†Mixed farms were classified according to the main animal species.
‡For 9 farms, PCR results not available.
§For 38 farms, VNT results not available.

Main Article

1These authors contributed equally to this article.

Page created: October 16, 2012
Page updated: October 16, 2012
Page reviewed: October 16, 2012
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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