Schmallenberg virus

Uncommon card · No. 149124

Schmallenberg virus, abbreviated SBV, is a virus that causes congenital malformations and stillbirths in cattle, sheep, goats, and possibly alpaca. It appears to be transmitted by midges (Culicoides spp.), which are likely to have been most active in causing the infection in the Northern Hemisphere summer and autumn of 2011, with animals subsequently giving birth from late 2011. Schmallenberg virus falls in the Simbu serogroup of orthobunyaviruses. It is considered to be most closely related to the Shamonda, Sathuperi and Douglas viruses. The virus is named after Schmallenberg, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, from where the first definitive sample was derived. It was first reported in October 2011. After Germany, it has also been detected in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Poland and Estonia. The virus has been recognised by the European Commission's Standing Committee on...

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