Seroprevalence of bluetongue disease in sheep in west and northwest provinces of Iran

The objective of this study was to describe the seroprevalence rates of bluetongue virus (BTV) in sheep in west and northwest provinces of Iran. Bluetongue virus, an economically important orbivirus of the Reoviridae family, causes a hemorrhagic disease mainly in sheep and occasionally in cattle and some species of deer. Bluetongue virus is transmitted between its mammalian hosts by certain species of biting midges (Culicoides spp.) and it can infect all ruminant species. Overall, 26 serotypes have been reported around the world. Due to its economic impact, bluetongue (BT) is an Office of International des Epizooties (OIE)-listed disease. A total of 756 sera samples collected during 2007-2008, were available. Sera were tested with competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (C-ELISA). The seroprevalence rate in sheep was 40.87%. The rate of positivity in sheep in west and northwest was 46.10% and 33.75%, respectively. The highest prevalence of antibodies in serum was in West Azerbaijan (64.86%), and lower was in Ardabil (23.77%).