Item

Tick-borne encephalitis virus seropositive dog detected in Belgium: screening of the canine population as sentinels for public health.

Roelandt, Sophie
Heyman, Paul
De Filette, Marina
Vene, Sirkka
Van der Stede, Yves
Cay, Ann Brigitte
Tavernier, Paul
De Bosschere, Hendrik
Vyt, Philip
... show 2 more
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is an important emerging tick-borne viral infection of humans and dogs in Europe. Currently, TBEV surveillance is virtually nonexistent in Belgium, which is considered nonendemic. A commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was adapted for the detection of TBEV-specific IgG-antibodies in canine sera. Serum samples of Belgian dogs were obtained from three diagnostic laboratories from Northern (n=688) and Southern Belgium (n=192). ELISA-positive and borderline samples were subjected to a TBEV rapid fluorescent focus inhibition confirmation test. One dog was confirmed TBEV seropositive. Several ELISA-positive and borderline sera underwent seroneutralization and hemagglutinin inhibition tests to rule out West Nile and Louping Ill viruses, but tested negative. The clinical history of the seropositive dog could not explain beyond doubt where and when TBEV infection was acquired. Further surveillance is necessary to determine whether this dog remains a single travel-related case or whether it represents an early warning of a possible future emergence of TBEV.

Description
Date
2011-10-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Chapter title
Publication type
Peer reviewed scientific article
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Animals, Antibodies, Viral, Belgium, Dog Diseases, Dogs, Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne, Encephalitis, Tick-Borne, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Female, Humans, Neutralization Tests, public health, Reagent Kits, Diagnostic, Sentinel Surveillance
Citation
Topic(s)
Related project
Embedded videos