Abstract
BackgroundBovine ephemeral fever (BEF) is an arthropod-borne viral disease caused by the BEF virus (BEFV). This single-stranded RNA virus that affects cattle and water buffalo is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions including Iran. While BEF is a major disease of cattle in Iran, information regarding its agent, molecular characterization, and circulating viruses are highly limited. The current study aimed to, firstly, determine the genetic and antigenic characteristics of BEFV strains in Khuzestan province in Southwest of Iran in 2018 and 2020 and, secondly, to compare them with strains obtained from other areas.ResultsBy phylogenetic analysis based on the Glycoprotein gene, BEFV strains were divided into four clusters of Middle East, East Asia, South Africa, and Australia; in which the 2018 and 2020 Iranian BEFV strains were grouped in the Middle East cluster with the Turkish, Indian, and Israeli strains. Depending on the chronology and geographical area, the outbreaks of Turkey (2020), Iran (2018 and 2020), and India (2018 and 2019) are proposed to be related. These BEFVs had the highest identity matrix and the lowest evolutionary distance among the studied strains. Multiple sequence alignment of G1, G2, and G3 antigenic sites showed that these neutralizing epitopes are highly conserved among the strains of the Middle East cluster; however, the strains previously identified in Iran differed in three amino acids placed in G1 and G2 epitopes.ConclusionThe findings revealed that BEFVs circulating in the Middle East are closely related phylogenetically and geographically. They also have similar antigenic structures; therefore, developing a vaccine based on these strains can be effective for controlling BEF in the Middle East.
Highlights
Bovine ephemeral fever (BEF), called three-day sickness, is a viral disease that affects cattle and water buffalo
To determine the genetic characteristics of BEF virus (BEFV) circulating in Iran during 2018 and 2020, the glycoprotein encoding gene of 8 BEFV strains (4 strains related to 2018 and 4 strains related to 2020) were sequenced
Multiple sequence alignments of G1, G2, and G3 antigenic sites showed that these neutralizing epitopes are highly conserved among the strains of the Middle East cluster, while it was found that the three substitutions at positions 218 (K to R), 223 (E to P), and 503 (K to T in IR-2013 strain and E to T in IR-2012 strain) in Iranian BEFV strains previously identified compared to present strains
Summary
Bovine ephemeral fever (BEF), called three-day sickness, is a viral disease that affects cattle and water buffalo. BEF virus (BEFV) is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions of Australia, Africa, and Asia, especially the Middle East countries [1, 2]. Four distinct antigenic sites (G1-G4) have been determined on the surface of this protein [9,10,11]. Bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) is an arthropod-borne viral disease caused by the BEF virus (BEFV). This single-stranded RNA virus that affects cattle and water buffalo is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions including Iran. The current study aimed to, firstly, determine the genetic and antigenic characteristics of BEFV strains in Khuzestan province in Southwest of Iran in 2018 and 2020 and, secondly, to compare them with strains obtained from other areas
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