Abstract
The establishment, and development between 1969 and 1978, of a system of sentinel cattle in herds located in many areas of Australia and in Papua New Guinea is described. Though the system was established for the study of the epidemiology of a variety of viruses infecting cattle, the study has been limited since 1974 to arboviruses. By means of serology, it was established that bovine ephemeral fever virus was present in Australia in subclinical form between major epidemics but was not detected in Papua-New Guinea. The development of antibody to bovine ephemeral fever virus in individual cattle before they developed clinical signs in epidemics was clearly demonstrated. The sentinel technique was used to demonstrate that subclinical Akabane virus infection in cattle occurred at the time that virus was present in its suspected vector,Culicoides brevitarsis which had been collected nearby. The epidemiology of other Simbu group viruses, D'Aguilar virus, and bluetongue virus, (serotype 20) was also studied. A limited programme of arbovirus isolation in tissue cultures produced 0.8% of isolates from 2090 of the blood clots which accompanied sentinel herd serum samples.
The most valuable aspect of the sentinel herd scheme has been the accumulation of a well documented representative set of serum samples for retrospective serology by the use of newly isolated or imported antigens.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albiston, H.E., 1966. Ephemeral Fever. Serv. Publs Dep. Hlth Aust. vet. Hyg., 7:118–126.
Campbell, J. and Hore, D.E., 1975. Isolation of Murray Valley Enceph alitis virus from sentinel chickens. Aust. vet. J., 51:1–3.
Cybinski, D.H., St. George, T.D. and Paull, N.I., 1978a. Antibodies to Akabane virus in Australia. Aust. vet. J., 54:1–3.
Cybinski, D.H., St. George, T.D. and Paull, N.I., 1978b. A survey of antibody to Aino virus in cattle and other species in Australia. Aust. vet. J. 54:371–373.
Davies, F.G. and Walker, A.R., 1974. The isolation of ephemeral fever virus from cattle and Culicoides midges in Kenya. Vet. Rec. 95: 63–64.
Della-Porta, A.J., Murray, M.D. and Cybinski, D.H., 1976. Congenital bovine epizootic arthrogryposis and hydranencephaly in Australia. Distribution of antibodies to Akabane virus in Australian cattle. Aust. vet. J., 52:496–501.
Della-Porta, A.J., O'Halloran, M.L., Parsonson, I.M., Snowdon, W.A., Murray, M.D., Hartley, W.J. and Haughey, K.J., 1977. Akabane disease: isolation of the virus from naturally infected ovine foetuses. Aust. vet. J. 53:51–52.
Doherty, R.L., St. George, T.D. and Carley, J.G., 1973. Arbovirus infections of sentinel cattle in Australia and New Guinea. Aust. vet. J., 49:574–579.
Howell, P.G. and Verwoerd, D.W., 1971. Bluetongue virus. Virol. Monogr. No. 9 35–74.
Inaba, Y., Kurogi, H. and Omori, T., 1975. Akabane disease: epizootic abortion, premature birth, stillbirth and congenital arthrogryposis-hydranencephaly in cattle, sheep and goats caused by Akabane virus. Aust. vet. J. 51:584–585.
Kirkland, in press. Technical Bulletin, New South Wales Department of Agriculture.
Kurogi, H., Inaba, Y., Takahasi, E., Sato, K., Omori, T., Miuru, Y., Goto, Y., Fujiwara, Y., Hatano, Y., Kodama, K., Fukuyama, S., Sasaki, N. and Matumoto, M., 1976. Epizootic congenital arthrogry posis-hydranencephaly syndrome in cattle: isolation of Akabane virus from affected fetuses. Arch. Virol. 51: 67–74.
Murray, M.D., 1970. The spread of ephemeral fever of cattle during the 1967–68 epizootic in Australia. Aust. Vet. J., 46:77–82.
Murray, M.D., 1975. Potential vectors of bluetongue in Australia. Aust. Vet. J.51:216–220.
Seddon, H.R., 1938. The spread of ephemeral fever (three day sickness) in Australia in 1936–37. Aust. Vet. J., 14:90–101.
St. George, T.D., 1979. The technology and application of sentinel herds and serum banks. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics.
St. George, T.D., (in press). Ephemeral fever. In: E.P.J. Gibbs (Editor), A World Geography of Virus Diseases of Veterinary Importance. Academic Press, New York.
St. George, T.D., Snowdon, W.A., Parsonson, I.M. and French, E.L., 1967. A serological survey of mucosal disease and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis in cattle in Australia and New Guinea. Aust. Vet. J., 43:549–557.
St. George, T.D., Standfast, H.A., Armstrong, J.M., Christie, D.G., Irving, M.R., Knott, S.G. and Rideout, B.L., 1973. A report on the progress of the 1972–73 epizootic of ephemeral fever-1 December 1972 to 30 April 1973. Aust. vet. J., 49:441–442.
St. George, T.D. and Dimmock, C.K., 1976. The isolation of D'Aguilar virus from a cow. Aust. Vet. J., 52:598.
St. George, T.D., Cybinski, D. and Paull, N.I., 1977a. The isolation of Akabane virus from a normal bull. Aust. Vet. J., 53:249.
St. George, T.D., Standfast, H.A., Christie, D.G., Knott, S.G. and Morgan, I.R., 1977b. The epizootiology of bovine ephemeral fever in Australia and Papua-New Guinea. Aust. Vet. J., 53:17–28.
St. George, T.D., Standfast, H.A., Cybinski, D.H., Dyce, A.L., Muller, M.J., Doherty, R.L., Carley, J.G., Filippich, C. and Frazier, C.L., 1978a. The isolation of bluetongue virus fromCulicoides collected in the Northern Territory of Australia. Aust. Vet. J., 54:153–154.
St. George, T.D., Standfast, H.A. and Cybinski, D.H., 1978b. Isolations of Akabane virus from sentinel cattle andCulicoides brevitarsis. Aust. Vet. J. 54:558–561.
Thieler, M. and Downs, W.G., 1973. The Arthropod-borne Viruses of Vertebrates. Yale University Press, New Haven, 578pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
George, T.D.S. A sentinel herd system for the study of arbovirus infections in Australia and Papua-New Guinea. Vet Res Commun 4, 39–51 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02278479
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02278479