Evidence of Transstadial and Mechanical Transmission of Lumpy Skin Disease Virus byAmblyomma hebraeumTicks

Abstract

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an economically important disease caused by LSD virus (LSDV), a Capripoxvirus, characterized by fever and circumscribed skin lesions. It is suspected to be transmitted mechanically by biting flies. To assess the vector potential of Amblyomma hebraeum in transmission of LSDV, mechanical/intrastadial and transstadial modes of transmission of the virus by this tick species were investigated. Two cattle were artificially infected as sources (donors) of infection to ticks. Ticks were infected as either nymphs or adults. Male A. hebraeum ticks were partially fed on donor animals and transferred to recipient animals to test for mechanical/intrastadial transmission. Nymphal A. hebraeum were fed to repletion on donor animals. The emergent adult ticks were placed on recipient animals to test for transstadial transmission of the virus. Successful transmission of LSDV infection was determined in recipient animals by monitoring development of clinical signs, testing of blood for the presence of LSDV by real-time PCR, virus isolation and the serum neutralization test. This report provides further evidence of mechanical/intrastadial and, for the first time, transstadial transmission of LSDV by A. hebraeum. These findings implicate A. hebraeum as a possible maintenance host in the epidemiology of the disease.

Detection of vaccine-like lumpy skin disease virus in cattle and Musca domestica L. flies in an outbreak of lumpy skin disease in Russia in 2017

“…Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Neumann and Amblyomma hebraeum Koch ticks could play a role in the transmission of the virus (Tuppurainen et al., ), but the high rate at which the outbreak being described unfolded disagrees with the life cycle of hard ticks, that may take at least a month for newly moulted adults to harden (Lubinga et al., ) or transovarially infected larvae to mature before attachment and feeding (Tuppurainen et al., ). Moreover, there is no available information on the presence of these ticks in Russia.…”

“…Indeed, arthropods have long been suspected in the spread of LSDV. For example, Lubinga et al (2013) reported the presence of LSDV antigen in tick tissues and demonstrated transovarial transmission of the virus in hard ticks. Tuppurainen, Venter, Coetzer, and Bell-Sakyia (2015) supported this assertion by detecting viral DNA in field-collected samples of hard ticks although they were unable to propagate LSDV in tick cell lines.…”

Determination of lumpy skin disease virus in bovine meat and offal products following experimental infection

“…Because LSD primarily occurs in the summer months with wet weather (Gomo, Kanonhuwa, Godobo, Tada, & Makuza, 2017), there is evidence to suggest a role for arthropods in the spread of the disease. Flies and mosquitoes have been implicated in the mechanical transmission of the virus, whereas ticks have been shown to be capable of mechanical and biological transmission (Chihota, Rennie, Kitching, & Mellor, 2001, 2003Lubinga, Tuppurainen, Coetzer, Stoltsz, & Venter, 2014;Lubinga et al, 2013). Another possible vector is Stomoxys calcitrans.…”

Lumpy skin disease: an African cattle disease getting closer to the EU

“…It has been shown that LSDV can be transmitted by ticks mechanically (Tuppurainen and others 2013a), and that the virus can survive from one tick life cycle stage to the next. The virus has also been detected in tick eggs, indicating transovarial transmission (Tuppurainen and others 2013b), and in different tick life cycle stages (Lubinga and others 2013, 2014) that are developing off the host in soil or vegetation. This results in the environment being contaminated with LSDV-infected ticks, thus hampering the eradication of the virus without the use of vaccination.…”