Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati-781022.
* Corresponding author. E-mail: dksarma1956@sify.com
1 Division of Veterinary Biotechnology, I.V.R.I., Izatnagar, Bareilly
Tissue samples of pigs slaughtered for human consumption were examined for detection of classical swine fever (CSF) virus antigen in Assam during April’2005 to March’2006. Out of 530 tissue samples consisting of kidney, spleen, tonsil, lymph node and intestine from 342 slaughtered pigs, 108 samples were found positive for CSF virus antigen in a sandwich ELISA. The highest number of kidney followed by spleen was found to be positive for the viral antigen. More number of samples collected in the months of July and October were found positive compared to other months. A few of the ELISA positive samples reacted with the monoclonal antibodies against the nonstructural protein (NS-3) of bovine viral diarrhea virus. Seven of the ELISA positive samples selected from different districts of the state was tested by RT-PCR and amplicons of 271bp could be generated from 4 of the samples using primers specific to the E2 region of the virus. The present study confirms the presence of CSF virus in the tissues of slaughtered pigs in different districts of Assam.
CSF virus, ELISA, BVDV, RT-PCR
