2.1. Case and Sampling

Our report details a case of MCF occurring in a six-month-old Brown calf that happened on a farm in Northern Sardinia (Italy), where sheep also shared the pasture. Following the appearance of clinical symptoms, serum, EDTA samples, and nasal swab were collected for diagnostic investigations. Due to the severe clinical conditions, the calf was euthanized and submitted to necroscopy. The brain, thymus, lungs, small intestine, kidney, and liver were collected for histopathological, virological and bacteriological analysis. We were unable to detect the presence of OvHV-2 in the sheep sharing the pasture with the infected calf and for this reason, we aimed to outline the epidemiological situation of OvHV2 in Sardinia, where ovine farming is an important zootechnic activity with a total population of 3,000,000 sheep. The survey involved 1160 sheep reared in 24 different farms, spread across the island: 6 for the province of Sassari, 2 for Oristano, 7 for Nuoro, and 9 for Cagliari. EDTA blood samples were collected from healthy sheep with standard procedures.