In 2012 - 2017 in Azerbaijan there was an unexpected increase of abortions in cattle and sheep that was unrelated to brucellosis or chlamydia infection. The first confirmed case of Schmallenberg disease was received from Beylagan district of Azerbaijan in October 2012. The import of cattle from Europe to Azerbaijan has commenced in 2012. Therefore, the surveillance study was launched to determine spread of infection among cattle and sheep and to monitor the situation in the country.
Objective: Schmallenberg virus (SBV) is an orthobunyavirus that primarily infects domestic and wild ruminants and causes symptoms such as transient fever, diarrhea, reduced milk production, congenital malformations and abortion. The first virus was identified in 2011 at the onset of a major outbreak in Europe (Germany, Hungary, and France).