Prevalence of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus in Sheep in Nineveh Province

Abstract

N UMEROUS studies have been conducted at the global level to evaluate the prevalence of the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in various animals, especially ruminants. It becomes clear that one of the most important steps in preventing viral infections, is to designing multiple programs for control, such as vaccination, the detection of vectors and the identification of predisposing factors to infection. This work is a first pioneering study designed to detect the infection rate of BVDV utilizing indirect ELISA and PCR technique, and to clarify the role of some risk related factors in sheep located in Nineveh province, Iraq. Between Dec. 2022 and July 2023, blood samples for this study were obtained from 184 sheep selected randomly represented 24 local and imported sheep flocks, from different regions of Nineveh province. The results were recorded that the infection rate of the disease in sheep was 16.84% and 2.71% based on the indirect ELISA and the conventional PCR technique respectively. Based on the multiplex PCR technique, three samples were BVDV-1genotypes. Significantly the large herd size and older age showed higher risk to BVDV, with no significant difference observed between origin of animals. This study indicates that the evidence of BVDV in sheep and their role in the epidemiology of the disease in cattle and maintenance of the virus. Therefore, the study of epidemiology and genetic diversity of the virus in sheep and goats is recommended.