Seroprevalence of bluetongue among dairy cattle in selected states in malaysia

An abstract of the research paper presented to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Malaysia Kelantan, in partial requirement on the course DVT 55204 – Research Project. Bluetongue disease (BT) is a notifiable disease listed by World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) due to its significant impact on the ruminant industry. It is an arthropod-borne viral disease of domestic and wild ruminants such as sheep, goats, cattle, buffaloes, deer and most species of African antelope, and camelids as vertebrate hosts. Sheep being the major host and usually develop clinical signs, however, occasionally other ruminants can also acquire the same clinical sign. In Malaysia, the last known report was in 1995 and the latest outbreak was in 2009. The recent and updated information related to current prevalence of BT in Malaysia is limited. There is a lack of information related to the disease status with dairy cattle. Due to the lack of data on BT in Malaysia, this study aims to determine the seroprevalence of BT infection among dairy cattle in selected states in Malaysia, such as Perak, Pahang, Johor, and Sabah. Blood samples were collected randomly from dairy cattle regardless of its age, breed, and group. The blood serums were used to detect the antibody towards BT by competitive ELISA (cELISA). There is an increase in the seropositive level indicating the presence of BT antibodies among dairy cattle in Malaysia, with 100% herd prevalence in Johor and Sabah, 61.76% in Pahang and 89.66% in Perak. The increase in seroprevalence of BT in this study could be due to the fly population in the farm environment since flies are the potential vectors in the transmission of BTV.
Keywords: Bluetongue (BT), BTV antibodies, cELISA, seroprevalence, dairy cattle, flies