Efficacy of an inactivated EHDV-8 vaccine in preventing viraemia and clinical signs in experimentally infected cattle.

Epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD), caused by the EHD virus (EHDV), is a vector-borne viral disease transmitted through Culicoides biting midges. EHDV comprises seven serotypes (1, 2, and 4-8), with EHDV-8 having recently emerged and spread in Europe over the last two years. Such event has raised concerns about the significant threat posed by EHDV-8 to livestock industry.

Validation of a real-time PCR assay for the detection of African swine fever virus in fresh pork meat juice.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiological agent of African swine fever (ASF), a disease with detrimental effects on the health, welfare, and production of domestic and wild pigs. The ASF laboratory confirmation is based on the analysis of blood, serum and organ samples. However, testing these samples could not be always convenient, economically feasible or possible.

Culicoides species responsible for the transmission of Epizootic Haemorrhagic Disease virus (EHDV) serotype 8 in Italy.

Epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) is a viral disease transmitted by Culicoides biting midges that affects wild and domestic ruminants. The causative agent, EHD virus (EHDV), belongs to the family Sedoreoviridae, genus Orbivirus. The virus has never been reported in Europe until October 2022, when the virus was for the first time detected in Sicily and Sardinia.

Development and validation of an RT-qPCR for detection and quantitation of emerging epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus serotype 8 RNA from field samples.

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) is a Culicoides-transmitted virus circulating in multiple serotypes. It has become a concern in the European Union as a novel strain of the serotype 8 (EHDV-8) of clear Northern African origin, has been recently discovered in symptomatic cattle in Italy (islands of Sardinia and Sicily), Spain, and Portugal. Current molecular typing methods targeting the S2 nucleotide sequences -coding for the outermost protein of the virion VP2- are not able to detect the novel emerging EHDV-8 strain as they enrolled the S2 sequence of the unique EHDV-8 reference strain isolated in Australia in 1982.

Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Serotype 8, Italy, 2022.

We describe the detection of epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) serotype 8 in cattle farms in Sardinia and Sicily in October-November 2022. The virus has a direct origin in North Africa; its genome is identical (>99.9% nucleotide sequence identity) to EHDV serotype 8 strains detected in Tunisia in 2021.

Intravenous Infection of Small Ruminants Suggests a Goat-Restricted Host Tropism and Weak Humoral Immune Response for an Atypical Bluetongue Virus Isolate.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is the etiologic agent of bluetongue (BT), a viral WOAH-listed disease affecting wild and domestic ruminants, primarily sheep. The outermost capsid protein VP2, encoded by S2, is the virion's most variable protein, and the ability of reference sera to neutralize an isolate has so far dictated the differentiation of 24 classical BTV serotypes. Since 2008, additional novel BTV serotypes, often referred to as "atypical" BTVs, have been documented and, currently, the full list includes 36 putative serotypes.

Epizootic Haemorrhagic Disease Virus Serotype 8 in Tunisia, 2021.

Epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) is a -borne viral disease caused by the epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) associated with clinical manifestations in domestic and wild ruminants, primarily white-tailed deer () and cattle (). In late September 2021, EHDV was reported in cattle farms in central/western Tunisia. It rapidly spread throughout the country with more than 200 confirmed outbreaks.

Reemergence of an atypical bluetongue virus strain in goats, Sardinia, Italy.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is the etiologic agent of bluetongue, a WOAH (founded as Office International des Épizooties, OIE)-notifiable economically important disease of ruminants. BTV is transmitted by Culicoides biting midges and 24 different "classical" serotypes have been reported to date. In recent years, several putative novel BTV serotypes, often referred to as "atypical" BTVs, have been documented.

Infection sustained by lineage B.1.1.7 of SARS-CoV-2 is characterised by longer persistence and higher viral RNA loads in nasopharyngeal swabs.

Following the announcement on December 2020 about the emergence of a new variant (VOC 202012/ 01, B.1.1.

SARS-CoV-2 RNA Persistence in Naso-Pharyngeal Swabs.

Since February 2020, Italy has been seriously affected by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. To support the National Health Care system, naso-pharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs collected from suspected cases of Teramo province, Abruzzo region, are tested at Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise G. Caporale, for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.

Development of a Digital RT-PCR Method for Absolute Quantification of Bluetongue Virus in Field Samples.

Bluetongue (BT) is a major Office International des Epizooties (OIE)-listed disease of wild and domestic ruminants caused by several serotypes of Bluetongue virus (BTV), a virus with a segmented dsRNA genome belonging to the family , genus . BTV is transmitted through the bites of midges. The aim of this study was to develop a new method for quantification of BTV Seg-10 by droplet digital RT-PCR (RTdd-PCR), using nucleic acids purified from complex matrices such as blood, tissues, and midges, that notoriously contain strong PCR inhibitors.

A "One-Health" approach for diagnosis and molecular characterization of SARS-CoV-2 in Italy.

The current pandemic is caused by a novel coronavirus (CoV) called SARS-CoV-2 (species , subgenus , genus , family ). In Italy, up to the 2nd of April 2020, overall 139,422 confirmed cases and 17,669 deaths have been notified, while 26,491 people have recovered. Besides the overloading of hospitals, another issue to face was the capacity to perform thousands of tests per day.

Vector Competence of Italian Populations of for Some Bluetongue Virus Strains Responsible for Recent Northern African and European Outbreaks.

The distribution of Bluetongue virus (BTV) in Europe can be represented by two distinct and interconnected epidemiological systems (episystems), each characterized by different ecological characteristics and vector species. This study investigated the vector competence of Italian populations of and to some representative BTV strains after artificial oral infection. The BTV strains were selected according to their ability to spread to one or both episystems and included BTV-4 ITA, responsible of the recent Italian and French BTV-4 outbreaks; the BTV-2 strain which caused the first BTV incursion in Italy, Corsica, and Balearic Islands; BTV-4 MOR, responsible for the epidemic in Morocco; and BTV-8, the strain which spread through Europe between 2006 and 2008.

Transplacental transmission of the Italian Bluetongue virus serotype 2 in sheep.

In order to study the capability of a Bluetongue virus serotype 2 (BTV‑2) field isolate to cross the placental barrier, 2 groups of 5 pregnant ewes were infected with a field BTV‑2 Italian strain (Group A) or with the same strain passaged once in Culicoides cells (Kc) (Group B). Following infection, EDTA‑blood and serum samples were collected weekly and tested for the presence of BTV RNA/infectious virus and anti‑BTV‑2 antibodies, respectively. At lambing, precolostral EDTA‑blood and serum samples were collected from lambs and tested as before.

Molecular typing of Bluetongue virus using the nCounter analysis system platform.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is a segmented double-stranded RNA virus, existing in multiple serotypes, belonging to the genus Orbivirus of the family Reoviridae. BTV causes Bluetongue (BT), a major OIE-listed disease of ruminants. Identification of BTV serotype is accomplished using multiple typing assays and tends to be executed based on the known epidemiological situation within a given country.

Development of a rapid method for the detection of Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:8 from food.

In this study, a new and alternative method based on monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) for the rapid detection of Yersinia enterocolitica O:8 was developed. This microorganism is an emerging foodborne pathogen causing gastrointestinal disease in humans. The transmission can occur through contaminated food such as raw or undercooked meat, milk and dairy products, water and fresh vegetables.

Analysis of bluetongue serotype 3 spread in Tunisia and discovery of a novel strain related to the bluetongue virus isolated from a commercial sheep pox vaccine.

Bluetongue (BT), is one of the OIE-listed major diseases of ruminants. Following the official report of BT virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) in a sheep in Cap Bon (Tunisia), blood and serum samples of ruminants were collected from some areas of Tunisia to further investigate the presence of this virus in the country. A quantitative real time RT-PCR has been first developed for the detection and quantitation of BTV-3 RNA from field specimens.

New species of the genus Culicoides (Diptera Ceratopogonidae) for Tunisia, with detection of Bluetongue viruses in vectors.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) and Epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) are double-stranded RNA orbiviruses of the Reoviridae family. Bluetongue virus and EHDV infect domestic and wild ruminants and they are transmitted by biting midges of the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Since 1999, BTV outbreaks have occurred in Tunisia and 4 serotypes, BTV2, BTV1, BTV4 and BTV3, were involved in 2000, 2006, 2009, and 2016, respectively.