Preliminary observations on the presence of visna-maedi in Italy

The presence of visna-maedi in Italy is reported for the first time. History, clinical findings and gross and microscopic lesions typical of the disease were observed in two sheep flocks in Central Italy. Affected animals were afebrile, lacked energy, lost condition and had progressively worsening dyspnoea which ended fatally. A few showed locomotor disturbances but remained alert. Anaemia and leukopenia were present. The lungs were affected with fleshy consolidation. Histologically, the pulmonary lesions included bronchiolar epithelial hyperplasia, peribronchiolar lymphoid cuffing, alveolar epithelialization and very marked interstitial changes. In agar gel diffusion tests on sera from 106 animals from the two flocks, 44 were positive. Furthermore, when the same test was conducted as a preliminary screening procedure on 682 animals randomly chosen from 94 flocks in five Regions, 93 positive animals were revealed in 39 flocks, involving all of the Regions. The infection is likely to be widespread in Italy and to constitute a problem in at least some flocks or areas.