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Revealing new tick-borne encephalitis virus foci by screening antibodies in sheep milk
Örebro University, School of Medical Sciences. (Inflammatory Response and Infection Susceptibility Centre (iRiSC))
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Virology, Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Örebro University, School of Medical Sciences. (Inflammatory Response and Infection Susceptibility Centre (iRiSC))ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4442-8503
School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden; Lydia Becker Institiute of Immunology and Inflammation, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. (Inflammatory Response and Infection Susceptibility Centre (iRiSC))
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2020 (English)In: Parasites & Vectors, E-ISSN 1756-3305, Vol. 13, no 1, article id 185Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

BACKGROUND: Tick distribution in Sweden has increased in recent years, with the prevalence of ticks predicted to spread towards the northern parts of the country, thus increasing the risk of tick-borne zoonoses in new regions. Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is the most significant viral tick-borne zoonotic disease in Europe. The disease is caused by TBE virus (TBEV) infection which often leads to severe encephalitis and myelitis in humans. TBEV is usually transmitted to humans via tick bites; however, the virus can also be excreted in the milk of goats, sheep and cattle and infection may then occur via consumption of unpasteurised dairy products. Virus prevalence in questing ticks is an unreliable indicator of TBE infection risk as viral RNA is rarely detected even in large sample sizes collected at TBE-endemic areas. Hence, there is a need for robust surveillance techniques to identify emerging TBEV risk areas at early stages.

METHODS: Milk and colostrum samples were collected from sheep and goats in Örebro County, Sweden. The milk samples were analysed for the presence of TBEV antibodies by ELISA and validated by western blot in which milk samples were used to detect over-expressed TBEV E-protein in crude cell extracts. Neutralising titers were determined by focus reduction neutralisation test (FRNT). The stability of TBEV in milk and colostrum was studied at different temperatures.

RESULTS: In this study we have developed a novel strategy to identify new TBEV foci. By monitoring TBEV antibodies in milk, we have identified three previously unknown foci in Örebro County which also overlap with areas of TBE infection reported during 2009-2018. In addition, our data indicates that keeping unpasteurised milk at 4 °C will preserve the infectivity of TBEV for several days.

CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, we report a non-invasive surveillance technique for revealing risk areas for TBE in Sweden, by detecting TBEV antibodies in sheep milk. This approach is robust and reliable and can accordingly be used to map TBEV "hotspots". TBEV infectivity in refrigerated milk was preserved, emphasising the importance of pasteurisation (i.e. 72 °C for 15 s) prior to consumption.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
BioMed Central, 2020. Vol. 13, no 1, article id 185
Keywords [en]
Alimentary TBE virus transmission, Flavivirus, Hotspot, Milk, Pasteurisation, Sweden, TBE virus foci, Tick-borne encephalitis, Tick-borne encephalitis virus
National Category
Infectious Medicine
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-81195DOI: 10.1186/s13071-020-04030-4ISI: 000526570500001PubMedID: 32268924Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85083113878OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-81195DiVA, id: diva2:1424992
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas
Note

Funding Agencies:

Nyckelfonden at Örebro University Hospital  

Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå University  

Örebro University 

Available from: 2020-04-20 Created: 2020-04-20 Last updated: 2024-01-17Bibliographically approved

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Wallenhammar, AmélieAsghar, NaveedDavidsson, ÅkeAndersson, SörenJohansson, Magnus

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