Development of within-herd immunity and long-term persistence of antibodies against Schmallenberg virus in naturally infected cattle

Background In 2011, the teratogenic, insect-transmitted Schmallenberg virus (SBV) emerged at the German/Dutch border region and subsequently spread rapidly throughout the European continent. In cattle, one of the major target species of SBV, first antibodies are detectable between one and three weeks after infection, but the duration of humoral immunity is unknown. To assess the course of immunity in individual animals and the development of the within-herd seroprevalence, cattle kept in a German farm with a herd size of about 300 lactating animals were annually blood sampled between December 2011 and December 2017 and tested for the presence of SBV-specific antibodies. Results During the monitored period, the within-herd seroprevalence declined from 74.92% in 2011 to 39.93% in 2015 and, thereafter, slightly increased to 49.53% in 2016 and 48.44% in 2017. From the animals that were tested in 2014 and 2015 for the first time (between 24 and 35 months of age) only 14.77% and 7.45%, respectively, scored positive. Thereafter, the seropositivity rate of this age group rose markedly to 58.04% in 2016 and 48.10% in 2017 indicating a circulation of SBV. Twenty-three individual animals were consistently sampled once per year between 2011 and 2017 after the respective insect vector season, 17 of them tested positive at the first sampling. Fourteen animals were still seropositive in December 2017, while three cattle (17.65%) became seronegative. Conclusions The regular re-emergence of SBV in Central Europe is a result of decreasing herd immunity caused by the replacement of animals by seronegative youngstock rather than of a drop of antibody levels in previously infected individual animals. The consequences of the overall decline in herd seroprevalence may be increasing virus circulation and more cases of fetal malformation caused by infection of naïve dams during gestation.