Seroprevalence of tick-borne encephalitis virus in wild and domestic animals in northern Germany

Topp, Anna-Katharina; Springer, Andrea; Mischke, R.; Rieder, Johanna; Feige, Karsten; Ganter, Martin; Nagel-Kohl, U.; Nordhoff, Marcel; Boelke, Mathias; Becker, Stefanie; Pachnicke, Stefan; Schunack, Bettina; Dobler, Gerhard; Strübe, Christina

doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2023.102220

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Infected animals with no apparent disease play a role in the maintenance and spread of TBEV either as the tick harbor or diseased dead-end hosts [ 43 ]. Some seroprevalence studies in horses conducted since 2000 showed TBE seropositivity of up to 26.1% in Austria, 0.8–23.4% in Germany [ 43 , 44 , 45 ], 3.45% in Slovakia [ 46 ], and 3.1% in Spain [ 47 ]. A very high seroprevalence rate of 37.5% and 3.9% TBEV viremic horses were detected in Lithuania [ 48 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Epidemiology in Endemic Regions of Continental Croatia, 2017–2023

Vilibic-Cavlek,

Krcmar,

Bogdanic

et al. 2024

Microorganisms

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Background: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) represents an important public health problem in Europe. We analyzed the epidemiology of TBE based on data from humans, animals, and Ixodes ricinus ticks in endemic regions of continental Croatia. Methods: In the period from 2017 to 2023, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples of 684 patients with neuroinvasive diseases, 2240 horse serum samples, and 300 sheep serum samples were tested for TBEV. In addition, 8751 I. ricinus ticks were collected. CSF samples were tested using RT-PCR. Serological tests (serum, CSF) were performed using commercial ELISA, with confirmation of cross-reactive samples by a virus neutralization test. Results: Eighty-four autochthonous human TBEV cases were confirmed. The majority of patients were in the age group of 40–69 years (58.3%) with a male predominance (70.2%). TBE showed a bimodal seasonality with a large peak in April–August and a small one in October–November. In addition to humans, TBEV IgG antibodies were found in 12.2% of horses and 9.7% of sheep. Seasonal tick abundance corresponds to the reported number of human infections. Conclusions: Continental Croatia is still an active natural focus of TBE. Continuous monitoring of infections in humans, sentinel animals, and ticks is needed for the implementation of preventive measures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Epidemiology in Endemic Regions of Continental Croatia, 2017–2023

Vilibic-Cavlek,

Krcmar,

Bogdanic

et al. 2024

Microorganisms

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“…Finally, we evaluated the impact of the serological screening method to estimate the seroprevalence for each cell. Generally, ELISA are used as a first screening method and then positive and doubtful results are tested in MNT [19,30,41,52]. Therefore, we considered the following strategies, using positive MNT results for sera directly tested in MNT (scenario MNT), sera tested with cELISA and positive and doubtful sera tested in MNT using cELISA threshold recommended by the manufacturer (scenario A), or using our adjusted threshold weighting sensitivity and the specificity equally (scenario B); (ii) using positive cELISA results with our adjusted threshold for sera directly tested with cELISA (scenario C).…”

Section: Celisa Performance Compared With Mntmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure of cattle to tick-borne encephalitis virus in the historical endemic zone in north-eastern France

Mathews-Martin,

Gonzalez,

Dheilly

et al. 2024

BMC Vet Res

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Background Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a severe human neuroinfection caused by TBE virus (TBEV). TBEV is transmitted by tick bites and by the consumption of unpasteurized dairy products from infected asymptomatic ruminants. In France, several food-borne transmission events have been reported since 2020, raising the question of the level of exposure of domestic ungulates to TBEV. In this study, our objectives were (i) to estimate TBEV seroprevalence and quantify antibodies titres in cattle in the historical endemic area of TBEV in France using the micro virus neutralisation test (MNT) and (ii) to compare the performance of two veterinary cELISA kits with MNT for detecting anti-TBEV antibodies in cattle in various epidemiological contexts. A total of 344 cattle sera from four grid cells of 100 km² in Alsace-Lorraine (endemic region) and 84 from western France, assumed to be TBEV-free, were investigated. Results In Alsace-Lorraine, cattle were exposed to the virus with an overall estimated seroprevalence of 57.6% (95% CI: 52.1–62.8%, n = 344), varying locally from 29.9% (95% CI: 21.0–40.0%) to 92.1% (95% CI: 84.5–96.8%). Seroprevalence did not increase with age, with one- to three-year-old cattle being as highly exposed as older ones, suggesting a short-life duration of antibodies. The proportion of sera with MNT titres lower than 1:40 per grid cell decreased with increased seroprevalence. Both cELISA kits showed high specificity (> 90%) and low sensitivity (less than 78.1%) compared with MNT. Sensitivity was lower for sera with neutralising antibodies titres below 1:40, suggesting that sensitivity of these tests varied with local virus circulation intensity. Conclusions Our results highlight that cattle were highly exposed to TBEV. Screening strategy and serological tests should be carefully chosen according to the purpose of the serological study and with regard to the limitations of each method.

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“…Finally, we evaluated the impact of the serological screening method to estimate the seroprevalence for each cell. Generally, ELISA are used as a rst screening method and then positive and doubtful results are tested in MNT (19,30,41,50). Therefore, we considered the following strategies, using positive MNT results for sera directly tested in MNT (scenario MNT), sera tested with cELISA and positive and doubtful sera tested in MNT using cELISA threshold recommended by the manufacturer (scenario A), or using our adjusted threshold weighting sensitivity and the speci city equally (scenario B); (ii) using positive cELISA results with our adjusted threshold for sera directly tested with cELISA (scenario C).…”

Section: Celisa Performance Compared With Mntmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure of cattle to tick-borne encephalitis virus in the historical endemic zone in north-eastern France

Mathews-Martin,

Gonzalez,

Dheilly

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a severe human neuroinfection caused by TBE virus (TBEV). TBEV is transmitted by tick bites and by the consumption of unpasteurized dairy products from infected asymptomatic ruminants. In France, several food-borne transmission events have been reported since 2020, raising the question of the level of exposure of domestic ungulates to TBEV. In this study, our objectives were (i) to estimate TBEV seroprevalence and quantify antibodies titres in cattle in the historical endemic area of TBEV in France using the micro virus neutralisation test (MNT) and (ii) to compare the performance of two veterinary cELISA kits with MNT for detecting anti-TBEV antibodies in cattle in various epidemiological contexts. A total of 344 cattle sera from four grid cells of 100 km² in Alsace-Lorraine (endemic region) and 84 from western France, assumed to be TBEV-free, were investigated. Results: In Alsace-Lorraine, cattle were highly exposed to the virus with an overall estimated seroprevalence of 57.6% (95% CI: 52.1-62.8%, n=344), varying locally from 29.9% (95% CI: 21.0-40.0%) to 92.1% (95% CI: 84.5-96.8%). Seroprevalence did not increase with age, with one- to three-year-old cattle being as highly exposed as older ones, suggesting a short-life duration of antibodies. The proportion of sera with MNT titres lower than 1:40 per grid cell decreased with increased seroprevalence. Both cELISA kits showed high specificity (>90%) and low sensitivity (less than 78.1%) compared with MNT. Sensitivity was lower for sera with neutralising antibodies titres below 1:40, suggesting that sensitivity of these tests varied with local virus circulation intensity. Conclusions: Our results highlight that screening strategy and serological tests should be carefully chosen according to the purpose of the serological study and with regard to the limitations of each method.

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Seroprevalence of tick-borne encephalitis virus in wild and domestic animals in northern Germany

Cited by 5 publications

References 45 publications

An Overview of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Epidemiology in Endemic Regions of Continental Croatia, 2017–2023

An Overview of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Epidemiology in Endemic Regions of Continental Croatia, 2017–2023

Exposure of cattle to tick-borne encephalitis virus in the historical endemic zone in north-eastern France

Exposure of cattle to tick-borne encephalitis virus in the historical endemic zone in north-eastern France

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