Background
Akabane virus (AKAV) is a teratogenic and neuropathogenic arbovirus that infects livestock and wild animals. AKAVs are endemic arboviruses from dairy farms in Taiwan in 1989, and the first sequence was detected in cattle with nonsuppurative encephalitis in 1992.
Objectives
This study aims to understand the epidemiological relationships of the akabane viruses between Taiwan and nearby places.
Methods
In this study, 17 specimens were identified or isolated from vector insects, and ruminant fetuses collected from 1992 to 2015 were sequenced and analysed.
Results
Sequence analyses revealed all Taiwanese AKAVs belonged to genogroup Ia but diverged into two clusters in the phylogenetic trees, implying that at least two invasive events of AKAV may have occurred in Taiwan.
Conclusions
The two clusters of AKAVs could still be identified in Taiwan in 2015, and a reassortment event was observed, indicating that the two clusters of AKAVs are already endemic in Taiwan.
Culicoides-borne viruses are an important arbovirus group causing bovine diseases. During 2012–2019, 2,525 pools consisting of 108,937 specimens of vectors were subjected to PCR detection of bovine arbovirus belonging to Orthobunyavirus, Orbivirus, and Ephemerovirus. Twelve virus RNAs, of which 6, that is, Shuni virus, Shamonda virus, and Sathuperi virus in Orthobunyavirus and Sathuvachari virus and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus serotypes 4 and 7 in Orbivirus were detected for the first time in the area. Potential vector species were evaluated by the minimum infection rate, and the population abundance of Culicoides oxystoma, Culex tritaeniorhynchus, and Anopheles sinensis indicated that they were the main potential vector species in dairy farms in Taiwan.
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