Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar - 385 506 (Gujarat)
The present study was undertaken to screen sera of sheep, goats, cattle, buffaloes and camels belonging to 16 locations of four regions of Gujarat State for the presence of BTV group specific antibodies employing BT-AGID and c-ELISA. Out of 1410 sera tested, BT-AGID detected antibodies against BTV in 493 cases (34.96%), while c-ELISA was positive in 717 cases (50.85%). Species wise seroprevalence in sheep, goats, cattle, buffaloes and camels recorded was 22.69, 50.92, 48.82, 39.29 and 26.69 per cent by BT-AGID and 36.11, 70.33, 69.19, 58.33 and 38.34 percent by c-ELISA, respectively. A variable rate of seroprevalence was observed from all the locations irrespective of species of animals and regions in which they belong. Prevalence of BTV antibodies was more in goats, cattle, buffaloes and camels than sheep. However, no clinical case of BT was observed during the study suggesting that these animals act predominantly as reservoir in maintaining BTV in natural ecosystem. Therefore, further studies to elucidate the exact role of these species in the epidemiology of the Bluetongue are warranted.
