Only four samples were positive by using RT-PCR and were subjected to viral isolation. Three different strains of pestiviruses were isolated from sheep. For the first time in the French Alps Mountains one strain (RUPI-05) was isolated from a chamois (Table 3). This strain was isolated from a juvenile female chamois (under 1 year old), captured in the Vars-Pass (District 04: 48°51′39″N, 02°20′43″E). On arrival in the care center, the animal was emaciated, and died after two days with low nasal discharge and weakness. At necropsy, macroscopic changes reported were general amyotrophy, hypertrophy of the prescapular lymph node, and general hemorrhagic signs in the cerebra, digestive tract, lungs, and Anti-Inflammatory Peptide 1 (data not shown). Bacterial cultures were negative in all of the organs tested (spleen, heart, liver, kidney, lung; data not shown). Although the animal did not show any sign of diarrhea, coccidiosis was present (2900 coccidia/g of fecal material). Recently, outbreaks of pestivirus infection were reported in Spanish Pyrenean chamois and were associated with high mortality (42–86%) and clinical signs such as behavioral changes and alopecia, with skin hyperpigmentation (Marco et al., 2007, Marco et al., 2009a and Marco et al., 2009b). Experimental infections of Pyrenean chamois with a chamois-BDV (isolated during a previous outbreak in Pyrenean chamois) showed that BDV infections can induce severe disease leading to abortion for pregnant females and the death of 5 animals out of 9 inoculated (Cabezón et al., 2011 and Martin et al., 2013). In the Alps, only decreases in population have been reported, and were not associated with specific clinical signs (Martin et al., 2011a).
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