Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of coinfections with bovine herpes virus-1 (BHV-1), bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), bluetoungue virus (BTV) and bovine herpes virus-4 (BHV-4) in cattle with reproductive problems in Sudan, and to determine the relation of single or mixed seropositivity with abortion, infertility and death after birth. Materials and methods: Meta-analysis of the results from our earlier serosurveys conducted with a total of 688 dairy cattle was carried out in order to determine prevalence of seropositivity of single and mixed (coinfection) viral infections. Reults: The meta-analysis of the data indicated high seroprevalence of coinfections with various combinations of these agents; only few animals were singly infected. An infection with BHV-1 was observed to be higher than the prevalence of associations between BHV-1 and the other three viral agents. Prevalence of seropositivities to coinfection with BHV-1/BTV; BHV-1/BVD; BHV-1/BTV/BVD were the highest while seropositivities prevalences that involved BHV-4 were much lower. The highest abortion rates were encountered in coinfections with BHV-1/BVD/BTV (31%) and BHV-1/BVD/BTV/BHV-4 (30%) while most infertility cases were noticed in coinfection with BHV-1/BVD/BTV (44%) and BHV-1/BVD/BTV/BHV-4 (21%), and coinfections with the four viruses were encountered in most of the death after birth cases (25%). Overall mixed infections with BHV-1/BVD/BTV (34%) and BHV-1/BVD/BTV/BHV-4 (22.5%) were involved in the majority of reproductive problems studied. Conclusion: Mixed infections constitutes the vast majority of cases and are involved in the majority of reproductive disorders investigated. The high prevalence of seropositivity to all of the four viruses should call for an intervention strategy to reduce the impact of these viruses.
Highlights
Numerous bacterial, viral, protozoan, and fungal pathogens had been associated with reproductive problems in cattle (Givens and Marley, 2008)
Bovine herpes virus-1 (BHV-1), bovine diarrhea virus (BVD), bluetongue virus (BTV), and bovine herpes virus-4 (BHV-4) are well known to be involved in such reproductive problems in livestock (Kirkbride, 1992; Kelling, 2007; Muylkens et al, 2007; Khezri, 2015)
bovine herpes virus-1 (BHV-1) seropositivity (84.4%) showed the highest prevalence followed by BTV and BVD (83.7% and 76.2% respectively)
Summary
Viral, protozoan, and fungal pathogens had been associated with reproductive problems in cattle (Givens and Marley, 2008). Bovine herpes virus-1 (BHV-1), bovine diarrhea virus (BVD), bluetongue virus (BTV), and bovine herpes virus-4 (BHV-4) are well known to be involved in such reproductive problems in livestock (Kirkbride, 1992; Kelling, 2007; Muylkens et al, 2007; Khezri, 2015). BHV-1 infection in cattle may result in various clinical forms including severe respiratory disease, genital infections with reduced reproducetive performance and abortion (Muylkens et al, 2007). In Sudan, BHV-1 was isolated since 1953 (Ali and El Amin, 1983). Neutralizing antibodies to BVD were detected in different areas of Sudan (Ali and El Amin, 1983). BHV-4 has been isolated from animals with various clinical manifestations including pneumonia, meteritis, enteritis, conjunctivitis and bladder infections (Monge et al, 2006). Antibodies against BHV-4 were first detected in Sudanese dairy cattle in 2011 (El Hassan et al, 2011)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
