SUMMARYAnimal losses due to abortion and malformed offspring during the lambing period 2011/2012 amounted to 50% in ruminants in Europe. A new arthropod-borne virus, called Schmallenberg virus (SBV), was identified as the cause of these losses. Blood samples were obtained from 40 goat flocks and tested for antibodies against SBV by ELISA, with 95% being seropositive. The calculated intra-herd seroprevalence (median 36·7%, min-max 0–93·3%) was smaller than in cattle or sheep flocks. Only 25% of the farmers reported malformations in kids. Statistical analysis revealed a significantly lower risk of goats housed indoors all year-round to be infected by SBV than for goats kept outside day and night. The low intra-herd seroprevalence demonstrates that German goat flocks are still at risk of SBV infection. Therefore, they must be protected during the next lambing seasons by rescheduling the mating period, implementing indoor housing, and continuous treatment with repellents or vaccination.

Contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) is a significant disease of the ovine foot characterised by severe lameness and progressive separation of the hoof horn capsule from the underlying tissue. Similar to bovine digital dermatitis (BDD), pathogenic members of the genus Treponema including the Treponema medium phylogroup, Treponema phagedenis phylogroup and Treponema pedis are frequently found together in CODD lesions. To date, CODD was only described in Ireland and the United Kingdom. In northern Germany, cases of an unusually severe lameness presented in a sheep flock that had been affected by footrot for several years. These cases were non-responsive to conventional footrot therapies, with some sheep exhibiting substantial lesions of the claw horn that resulted in horn detachment. Lesion swab samples were collected from both clinically affected and asymptomatic animals. In all clinically affected sheep, CODD-associated Treponema phylogroups were detected by polymerase chain reaction. This is the first report of CODD in Germany and mainland Europe, indicating a wider geographic spread than previously considered. In cases of severe lameness attributed to claw lesions in sheep that fail to respond to footrot treatment, CODD should be considered irrespective of geographic location.

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Schmallenberg virus (SBV) infections can cause congenital musculoskeletal and vertebral malformations as well as neurological failures in foetuses of several ruminant species if susceptible mother animals were infected during early gestation. Blood samples gained from 17 goat and 64 sheep flocks in Lower Saxony (LS), Germany (January-May 2012), which is located in the core region of the 2011/2012 epidemic were tested for antibodies against SBV by ELISA to detect past exposure to SBV. A SBV-specific questionnaire was raised in all flocks. The calculated median within-herd prevalence was 43.8% (min-max: 5.6-93.3%) for goats and 58.7% (min-max: 6.5-100%) for sheep, showing that small ruminants in LS, especially goats, are still at risk of novel SBV infections in the following lambing seasons as not all animals have seroconverted yet. Statistical analysis revealed that goats have a significantly lower risk of SBV infections than sheep which might be explained by different host preferences of Culicoides ssp. as main vectors for SBV and different housing conditions.

Summary Schmallenberg virus (SBV) is a member of the family Bunyaviridae and mainly affects ruminants. It is transmitted by biting midges, first and foremost Culicoides spp., and causes congenital malformations reflected in arthrogryposis–hydranencephaly (AH) syndrome. The aim of this study was to collect data on the emergence of SBV as a new arthropod‐borne disease introduced into Europe in 2011. Germany was located in the core region of the 2011/2012 epidemic. Following two seroprevalence studies in the north‐west of Germany in 2012, this study focused on the epidemiology and distribution of SBV throughout 130 small ruminant flocks in the whole country. Blood samples were obtained of 30 animals per flock and a SBV‐specific questionnaire was used to collect operating data of the farms. The median within‐herd seroprevalence for all 130 flocks tested was 53.3% with a total range from 0% to 100%. The median within‐herd seroprevalence for goats was 30% [interquartile range (IQR): 40.3%] and 57% for sheep (IQR: 43.3%). Small ruminant flocks kept permanently indoors or housed overnight had a significantly lower seroprevalence than flocks kept permanently outdoors. In addition, this study revealed a significantly lower seroprevalence in the north‐east of Germany. These results show that small ruminants in Germany are still at risk of contracting new SBV infections following incomplete seroconversion of flocks especially in the north‐east of Germany. This might contribute to SBV becoming enzootic in central and northern Europe. Furthermore, the survey revealed that housing animals at least during mating and early pregnancy may reduce the risk of new SBV infections and may thus be an option to reduce losses as long as there is no licensed vaccine available on the German market.