Serological Evidence for Circulation of Influenza D Virus in the Ovine Population in Italy
Gianvito Lanave,
Michele Camero,
Chiara Coppola,
Serena Marchi,
Giuseppe Cascone,
Felice Salina,
Miriana Coltraro,
Amienwanlen E. Odigie,
Emanuele Montomoli,
Chiara Chiapponi,
Vincenzo Cicirelli,
Vito Martella,
Claudia M. Trombetta
Affiliations
Gianvito Lanave
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University Aldo Moro of Bari, 70010 Valenzano, Italy
Michele Camero
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University Aldo Moro of Bari, 70010 Valenzano, Italy
Chiara Coppola
Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
Serena Marchi
Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
Giuseppe Cascone
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia “A. Mirri”, 90129 Palermo, Italy
Felice Salina
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia “A. Mirri”, 90129 Palermo, Italy
Miriana Coltraro
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia “A. Mirri”, 90129 Palermo, Italy
Amienwanlen E. Odigie
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University Aldo Moro of Bari, 70010 Valenzano, Italy
Emanuele Montomoli
Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
Chiara Chiapponi
OIE Reference Laboratory for Swine Influenza, Sede Territoriale di Parma, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia ed Emilia Romagna, 25124 Brescia, Italy
Vincenzo Cicirelli
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University Aldo Moro of Bari, 70010 Valenzano, Italy
Vito Martella
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University Aldo Moro of Bari, 70010 Valenzano, Italy
Claudia M. Trombetta
Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
Influenza D virus (IDV) is a novel orthomyxovirus initially isolated from pigs exhibiting influenza-like disease in the USA. Since then, IDV has been detected worldwide in several host species, including livestock animals, whilst specific antibodies have been identified in humans, raising concerns about interspecies transmission and zoonotic risks. Few data regarding the seroprevalence of IDV in small ruminants have been available to date. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of antibodies against IDV in ovine serum samples in Sicily, Southern Italy. Six hundred serum samples, collected from dairy sheep herds located in Sicily in 2022, were tested by haemagglutination inhibition (HI) and virus neutralization (VN) assays using reference strains, D/660 and D/OK, representative of two distinct IDV lineages circulating in Italy. Out of 600 tested samples, 168 (28.0%) tested positive to either IDV strain D/660 or D/OK or to both by HI whilst 378 (63.0%) tested positive to either IDV strain D/660 or D/OK or to both by VN. Overall, our findings demonstrate that IDV circulates in ovine dairy herds in Sicily. Since IDV seems to have a broad host range and it has zoonotic potential, it is important to collect epidemiological information on susceptible species.
