Veterinarski arhiv, Vol. 88 No. 4, 2018.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.24099/vet.arhiv.0033
Outbreak of equine influenza in Croatia in 2015 and post outbreak epidemiological situation
Ljubo Barbić
orcid.org/0000-0002-5170-947X
; Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Vladimir Savić
; Poultry Center, Croatian Veterinary Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Keti Kovačević
; Student, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Jasmina Kapetan
; Student, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Vladimir Stevanović
; Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Snježana Kovač
; Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Suzana Hađina
; Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Zoran Milas
; Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Vilim Starešina
; Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Nenad Turk
; Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Matko Perharić
; Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Josip Madić
; Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Sažetak
In March 2015, a few days after a major horse fair event in Bjelovar, Croatia, an equine influenza outbreak began and in the days that followed spread to more than 20 stud farms in the continental part of Croatia. The epidemiological investigation showed the importance of the national and international movement of asymptomatic carrier animals as a major risk factor for the introduction of the equine influenza virus and its spread in the naïve population. Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analyses confirmed that the EI outbreak was caused by an imported viral strain of the H3N8 subtype, phylogenetically similar to recent European strains belonging to Florida sublineage clade 2. The post-outbreak equine influenza seroprevalence in continental Croatia, based on ELISA testing, was 12.3% and varied between 1.1% and 32.6% on a county level. The highest seroprevalence in counties with predominantly sport and leisure horses highlighted animal management as a principal risk factor for equine influenza infection. On the other hand, variations in haemagglutination inhibition titres in the tested serum samples suggested different times of infection acquisition and unreported outbreaks of equine influenza in continental Croatia after the 2015 outbreak. Vaccination coverage, even after the large outbreak in 2015, was still below 10%, which suggests the lack of education of horse owners and represents a high risk for further outbreaks. In conclusion, influenza is a wide spread infection with multiple, often unrecorded, outbreaks in continental Croatia. A high risk of further outbreaks is present due to low vaccination coverage, an increase in the sport and leisure horse population and the intensive movement of those animals. In order to prevent further outbreaks of equine influenza in Croatia it is necessary to introduce adequate surveillance and mandatory vaccination at least for the sport and leisure horse population where there is international transport of animals.
Ključne riječi
equine influenza; outbreak; international transport; seroprevalence; ELISA; IHA; vaccination coverage; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
203968
URI
Datum izdavanja:
14.7.2018.
Posjeta: 1.647 *