Virological and Serological Investigations of Bluetongue Virus (BTV) Infection in Sheep in Konya Region

摘要

This study was conducted for determination of recent situation of BTV infection and seroprevalence of the infection in sheep in Konya region. For this purpose, 320 blood samples were collected from randomly selected sheep, slaughtered in a local private slaughterhouse, from nonvaccinated sheep herds from different locations of the region. To determine the present situation of the BTV infection (new infection) in the animals, a commercial antigen capture ELISA was used. The infection rate was changed between 0-5.55% among the herds and overall the infection rate was found as 1.56%. To determine the specific antibodies to BTV in the blood serum samples of the sheep, a commercial competitive ELISA (c-ELISA) was used and the within herd seroprevalence was changed between 0-15% and individual animal seroprevalence was 4.68%. When, the results of this were compared with the results of seroprevalence and virological studies conducted previously in the same region, we concluded that the seroprevalence of the infection is decreasing in the region. But, new infections in the sheep population in the region are still present.