CO-CIRCULATION OF VIRUSES FROM HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE OF DEER AND BLUETONGUE VIRUS IN REUNION IN 2009

Bluetongue virus (BTV) and Epizootic Hemorrhagic disease of deer virus (EHDV) are endemic in Reunion Island and regularly cause some clinical outbreaks more or less severe in cattle (EHDV) or in sheep (BT) as already observed in 2003. In January 2009, cattle raised on the Island of Reunion showed clinical signs suggestive of one or other of these arbovirus diseases. Analysis by polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) performed on blood samples from 116 cattle present in various districts of the Island detected the presence of the EHDV genome in 106 samples and, in 5 out of them, the presence of both BTV and EHDV. Seven strains of EHDV and 1 strain of bluetongue virus were isolated in embryonated eggs and BHK21 cell culture. By analysis of the nucleotide sequences in segment 2 of the genome (encoding the VP2 serotype specific protein) of the isolates, it was possible to identify the serotypes of these two orbiviruses and to compare those sequences with other available in database.