Eda Baldan ÖNER, Gizem ALPAY, Kadir YEŞİLBAĞ

Seroepidemiology and molecular investigation of pestiviruses among sheep and goats in Northwest Anatolia

Pestiviruses, which are distributed worldwide, may cause losses in sheep and goat populations. The current seroprevalence andcirculation of pestiviruses in small ruminants of the South Marmara Region of Turkey were investigated. A total of 607 blood sampleswere collected from 22 different flocks in 4 different provinces, and 24 necropsy materials were investigated. Pestivirus seroprevalencein sheep and goats was determined by virus neutralization test against the NADL strain of bovine viral diarrhea virus. The meanantibody titer was 3.5, while the overall seropositivity rate was 32.78% (199/607). Seronegativity was markedly more prevalent in goats.The mean detected antibody titer was 6.8 in sheep and 1.1 in goats. All blood samples were negative as assessed by Ag-ELISA and RTPCR. Fourteen out of 24 fetal samples were detected as antigen-positive by Ag-ELISA. The amplification was observed using pan-pestiprimers in four tissue samples. All four samples were identified as border disease virus by discriminative RT-PCR. In conclusion, themoderate seroprevalence but low antibody titers detected in this study indicate that small ruminants in the South Marmara Region maybe at risk of extensive new circulations of pestivirus infections.

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