Description
Schmallenberg virus is the informal name given to a recently isolated orthobunyavirus, which has not been given a formal name as of January 2013, initially reported in October 2011 to cause congenital malformations and stillbirths in cattle, sheep, goats, and possibly alpaca.
The virus is named after Schmallenberg, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, from where the first definitive sample was derived. After Germany, it has also been detected in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Poland and Estonia.
The virus causes two different profiles of Schmallenberg:
Fever of short duration, diarrhoea and reduced production of milk in cows.
Stillbirths and birth defects in sheep, cattle and goats.
