Spatio-temporal distribution and international context of bovine viral diarrhoea virus genetic diversity in France

Abstract Bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) is one of the most economically damaging livestock enzootic diseases in the world. BVD aetiological agents are three pestiviruses (BVDV-1, -2 and HoBi-like pestivirus), which exhibit high genetic diversity and complex transmission cycles. This considerably hampers the management of the disease, which is why eradication plans have been implemented in several countries. In France, a national plan has been in place since 2019. Our understanding of its impact on the distribution of BVDV genotypes is limited by the availability of French genetic data. Here, we conducted a molecular epidemiology study to refine our knowledge of BVDV genetic diversity in France, characterise its international relationships, and analyse national spatio-temporal genotypic distribution. We collated 1037 BVDV-positive samples throughout France between 2011 and 2023, with a greater sampling effort in two major cattle production areas. We developed a high-throughput sequencing protocol which we used to complete the 5’UTR genotyping of this collection. We show that two main BVDV-1 genotypes, 1e and 1b, account for 88% of genotyped sequences. We also identified seven other BVDV-1 genotypes occurring at low frequencies and three BVDV-2 samples (genotype 2c). Phylogenetic analyses indicate different worldwide distribution patterns between the two main BVDV-1 genotypes. Their relative frequencies present no major changes in France since the 1990s and few variations at the national scale. We also found some degree of local spatial structuring in western France. Overall, our results demonstrate the potential of large-scale sequence-based surveillance to monitor changes in the epidemiological situation of enzootic diseases.