The absence of the Bluetongue virus in abortion cases in cattle, sheep, and goats in Türkiye: 2012-2017

Abstract

Bluetongue (BT) is a disease that affects domestic and wild ruminants, and it is caused by a virus called bluetongue virus (BTV) that is transmitted by Culicoides midges. Although clinical signs of BT are most apparent in sheep, BTV could induce abortion and birth defects in cattle, sheep and goats. BTV infection has been reported in Türkiye, but the role of BTV in cattle and small ruminant abortion cases in Türkiye remains uncertain. Therefore, this research aimed to fill this research gap by investigating the prevalence of BTV in cattle and small ruminant abortion cases. To investigate the frequency of BTV in ovine, caprine, and bovine foetuses, a total of 1718 foetuses were collected from different farms between 2012 and 2017. A one-step real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was used to detect BTV RNA in aborted foetuses. BTV specific RNA was not detected in the analysed foetuses. To the best of my knowledge, this is the longest study that has investigated whether BTV infection has a role in cattle and small ruminant abortion cases in Türkiye. The results of this study are limited only to the regions studied. Therefore, further epidemiological studies are needed to confirm the findings of this study.

Keywords

• Bluetongue virus
• sheep
• goats
• cattle
• abortion

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