{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T21:37:35Z","timestamp":1791409055539,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,22]],"date-time":"2026-03-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774137600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006514","name":"Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["\/"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["\/"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006514","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>To monitor the epidemiological situation of bluetongue virus (BTV) in Belgium, a national surveillance programme was conducted during the 2024\u20132025 winter season. The objective was to estimate the apparent seroprevalence of BTV-3 following the 2023\u20132024 epidemic and to prove the absence of active circulation of other BTV serotypes in mixed herds (cattle and sheep). A total of 2551 cattle and 1458 sheep were sampled across Belgium. Serological analyses were performed using ELISA, and molecular detection of BTV-3, BTV-8, and BTV-12 was conducted by RT-qPCR. The majority of cattle and sheep herds showed evidence of exposure to BTV-3, with a very high herd-level apparent seroprevalence (100%; 95% CI: 96.2\u2013100% in cattle and 98.9%; 95% CI: 93.8\u201399.8% in sheep). Apparent within-herd seroprevalence was also high in cattle (94.6%; 95% CI: 91.8\u201396.5%) and sheep (85.5%; 95% CI: 80.4\u201389.5%). No evidence of active circulation of BTV-8 or BTV-12 was detected. A moderate significant positive correlation between Ct values and sampling date was observed both for bovine and ovine samples, consistent with a progressive decline in detectable BTV RNA during winter in the absence of vector activity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18030396","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]],"date-time":"2026-03-23T13:07:06Z","timestamp":1774271226000},"page":"396","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["High Seroprevalence of Bluetongue Virus Serotype 3 in Belgian Cattle and Sheep After the 2024 Epidemic"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7490-7903","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Micka\u00ebl","family":"Cargnel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Sciensano, Infectious Diseases in Animals, Coordination of Veterinary Activities and Veterinary Epidemiology, 1050 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9163-9381","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xavier","family":"Simons","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sciensano, Infectious Diseases in Animals, Coordination of Veterinary Activities and Veterinary Epidemiology, 1050 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-4028-1841","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ilse","family":"De Leeuw","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sciensano, Infectious Diseases in Animals, Exotic and Vector-Borne Diseases, 1050 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nick","family":"De Regge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sciensano, Infectious Diseases in Animals, Exotic and Vector-Borne Diseases, 1050 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jean-Baptiste","family":"Hanon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sciensano, Infectious Diseases in Animals, Coordination of Veterinary Activities and Veterinary Epidemiology, 1050 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"371","DOI":"10.1016\/0167-5877(84)90080-1","article-title":"Bluetongue in Africa, the Mediterranean Region and Near East\u2014Disease, Virus and Vectors","volume":"2","author":"Sellers","year":"1984","journal-title":"Prev. 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