Outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Burundi, East Africa, in 2016, Caused by Different Serotypes

Andrea Isabel Estevez Garcia; David J Lefebvre; Lionel Nyabongo; Andy Haegeman; Canesius Nkundwanayo; Annebel De Vleeschauwer; Désiré Ntakirutimana; Ilse De Leeuw; Deogratias Nsanganiyumwami; Pascal Niyokwizera; Thierry van den Berg; Alfred Niyokwishimira; Kris De Clercq

doi:10.3390/v14051077

Outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Burundi, East Africa, in 2016, Caused by Different Serotypes

Viruses. 2022 May 17;14(5):1077. doi: 10.3390/v14051077.

Authors

Andrea Isabel Estevez Garcia^{1

2}, David J Lefebvre¹, Lionel Nyabongo^{3

4}, Andy Haegeman¹, Canesius Nkundwanayo³, Annebel De Vleeschauwer^{1

5}, Désiré Ntakirutimana⁶, Ilse De Leeuw¹, Deogratias Nsanganiyumwami^{6

7}, Pascal Niyokwizera³, Thierry van den Berg¹, Alfred Niyokwishimira^{3

8}, Kris De Clercq¹

Affiliations

¹ Unit for Exotic Viruses and Particular Diseases, Department of Infectious Diseases in Animals, Sciensano, 1180 Brussels, Belgium.
² Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Americana College, Americana 13477-360, Brazil.
³ Unit of Virology, Laboratoire National Vétérinaire (LNV), Bujumbura P.O. Box 227, Burundi.
⁴ Impact at Scale, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Bujumbura P.O. Box 1893, Burundi.
⁵ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
⁶ Direction de la Santé Animale (DSA), Gitega P.O. Box 161, Burundi.
⁷ Ministère des Infrastructures, de l'Equipement et des Logements Sociaux, Bujumbura P.O. Box 1860, Burundi.
⁸ Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU), Bujumbura P.O. Box 795, Burundi.

Abstract

Burundi is a small, densely populated country in the African Great Lakes region. In March 2016, several hundreds of cattle were reported with vesicular lesions, suggesting foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Epithelial samples, saliva, and blood were collected in six of the affected provinces spread over the country. The overall seroprevalence of FMD virus (FMDV) in the affected herds, as determined by antibodies against FMDV non-structural proteins, was estimated at 87%. Antibodies against FMDV serotypes O (52%), A (44%), C (19%), SAT1 (36%), SAT2 (58%), and SAT3 (23%) were detected across the provinces. FMDV genome was detected in samples from five of the six provinces using rRT-PCR. FMDV was isolated from samples from three provinces: in Cibitoke province, serotypes A and SAT2 were isolated, while in Mwaro and Rutana provinces, only serotype SAT2 was isolated. In Bururi and Cankuzo provinces, the serological profile suggested a recent incursion with serotype SAT2, while in Bubanza province, the serological profile suggested past incursions with serotype O and possibly serotype SAT1. The phylogenetic assessments showed the presence of topotypes A/Africa/G-I and SAT2/IV, similarly to previously characterized virus strains from other countries in the region, suggesting a transboundary origin and necessitating a regional approach for vaccination and control of FMD.

Keywords: Burundi; FMD; FMDV; VP1; foot-and-mouth disease; phylogeny; serology; serotype A; serotype SAT2; virus.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Africa, Eastern / epidemiology
Animals
Burundi / epidemiology
Cattle
Cattle Diseases* / epidemiology
Disease Outbreaks / veterinary
Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus*
Foot-and-Mouth Disease* / epidemiology
Phylogeny
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Serogroup

Grants and funding

The presented work was funded by Sciensano (Belgium) and the Direction de la Santé Animale/Ministère de l’Environnement, de l’Agriculture et l’Élevage (Burundi). Sciensano receives co-funding from the European Commission (joint EU-RL for foot-and-mouth disease).