Risk-associated factors associated with the bovine viral diarrhea virus in dromedary camels, sheep, and goats in abattoir surveillance and semi-closed herd system

Abstract

Background and Aim: Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is one of the most important viral pathogens causing high economic losses in cattle of all ages. Despite the active vaccination campaigns against BVDV, many outbreaks are still detected in various populations of cattle worldwide. Other species of animals such as dromedary camels, sheep, and goats may harbor BVDV infection and cause variable clinical syndromes. Thus, they may act as a source of infection to the cattle population around them. However, little is still known about the roles of these animals in the viral transmission and sustainability of BVDV in the environment. This study aimed to explore if the dromedary camels, sheep, and goats may seroconvert against BVDV and to study some associated risk factors for BVDV in these species of animals. Materials and Methods: We tested 1012 serum samples from dromedary camels, 84 from goats, and 21 from sheep for BVDV antibodies using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Meanwhile, we selected 211 serum samples from dromedary camels to be tested for the BVDV antigen using the commercial ELISA kits. Results: Our results show that 49/1117 serum samples were positive for the BVDV antibodies in dromedary camels (46/1012), goats (3/84), and none of the tested sheep samples were positive. However, none of the collected serum samples tested positive for the BVDV antigen. Conclusion: Seroconversion of some dromedary camels, sheep, and goats to the BVDV with no history of vaccination against BVDV strongly suggests the potential roles of these species of animals in the virus transmission cycle. The main limitations of the current study are (1) the lack of samples from other species of animals that lived close by these animals, particularly cattle. (2) lack of follow-up samples from the same animal over a long period. We believe the long-term longitudinal study of BVDV in various species of animals, particularly dromedary camels, goats, and sheep, is one of our future research directions. This will provide more information about the dynamics of BVDV antibodies in these species of animals.