Significant re-emergence and recirculation of Schmallenberg virus in previously exposed dairy herds in Ireland in 2016

Schmallenberg virus (SBV) circulation was investigated in 25 previously exposed dairy herds in Ireland in 2016. A population of 1,550 spring-2014-born animals, which had been monitored for SBV infection in 2014 and 2015 as part of a previous SBV surveillance study, were resampled for evidence of SBV infection during 2016. A total of 366 blood samples were collected in the 25 study herds (15 samples per herd) between 3 March 2017 and 10 March 2017 (before the 2017 vector-active season) and analysed for SBV antibodies using a competitive ELISA kit (IDVet). A total of 256 animals tested seropositive, an AP of 69.9% (95% CI: 65.1-74.4) and TP of 77.7% (95% CI: 72.3%-82.8%) when correcting for imperfect test characteristics. These results demonstrate that a new epidemic of SBV circulation occurred in these previously exposed herds in Ireland in 2016.