First report of bovine rotavirus from Kerala

摘要

A study was conducted to detect the prevalence of rotavirus in diarrhoeic calves in Thrissur district, Kerala. Some of the cattle herds had a history of recurrent diarrhoea. The methods adopted were Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), Ribonucleic Acid -Poly Acrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (RNA-PAGE) followed by silver staining and Agar Gel Immuno Diffusion (AGIO). Among 124 diarrheic faecal samples collected during a period of two years, 29 (23.39 per cent) were detected as positive by RNA-PAGE, 35 (28.23 per cent) samples by RT-PCR and 16 (12.90 per cent) by AGIO. The clustered arrangement of the 11 segments of the genome showed a 4:2:3:2 migration pattern, typical of group A bovine rotavirus. RT-PCR was conducted using genomesegment 4 (VP4 gene) specific primers. Among the various tests employed, RT-PCR was found to be more sensitive in the diagnosis of Bovine rota viral (BRV) infections. It was found that the occurrence of infection was most common in zero to two weeks of'age (39.39 per cent) followed by two to four weeks of age (37.04 per cent).