RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Poskin, Antoine A1 Martinelle, Ludovic A1 Van der Stede, Yves A1 Saegerman, Claude A1 Cay, Brigitte A1 De Regge, NickYR 2017 T1 Genetically stable infectious Schmallenberg virus persists in foetal envelopes of pregnant ewes JF Journal of General Virology, VO 98 IS 7 SP 1630 OP 1635 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.000841 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB Schmallenberg virus (SBV) is a recently emerged vector-borne virus, inducing congenital defects in bovines, ovines and caprines. Here we have shown that infectious SBV is capable of persisting until the moment of birth in the foetal envelopes of ewes infected with SBV-infectious serum at day 45 (1/5 positive) and 60 (4/6 positive) of gestation. This persistence of at least 100 days is a new aspect of the SBV pathogenesis that could help to explain how SBV overwinters the cold season in temperate climate zones. Furthermore, sequencing of the M segment shows that the persisting virus in the foetal envelopes is genetically stable since only a few mutations compared to the inoculum were found. This supports the hypothesis that persisting virus could start the infection of new hosts. Finally, neutralization tests showed that infectious SBV present in the foetal envelopes at birth can be neutralized by the humoral immunity present in the infected ewes., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.000841