Abstract
The presence of multiple serotypes of the midge-borne bluetongue virus and lack of effective vaccine are the major impediments in controlling bluetongue in sheep. Attempts are being made to develop a vaccine employing the available serotypes to control the disease in the state. Hence, it is essential to identify the antigenic relationships among the serotypes to identify the candidate strains to be incorporated in the preparation of vaccine. To understand the antigenic relationships between Bluetongue virus -2, 9 and 15 serotypes, the viruses were propagated in BHK21 cell lines, purified using PEG precipitation method and purified virus used to raise hyper immune serum in rabbits. Neutralizing antibodies for the BTV serotypes were detected by day 21 PI. Reciprocal cross neutralization test was employed to determine the R% values between BTV-2, 9 and 15 which indicated the extent of antigenic relationships among the serotypes. R% value between BTV-2 and BTV-9 was recorded as 2.8. R% value of 3.53 and 2.8 were observed between BTV-2 & 15 and BTV-9 & 15 respectively. The R% values recorded in the present study revealed a weak antigenic relationship between the BTV serotypes, indicating that the serotypes are highly divergent.
Highlights
Bluetongue (BT) is a non-contagious, arthropod borne viral hemorrhagic disease of ruminants, of sheep and occasionally cattle and some species of deer
Detection of Bluetongue virus group specific antibodies in hyperimmune sera of rabbits: Sharp precipitation lines were observed between the antigen and the antisera wells in agarose gels indicating the presence of BTV group specific antibodies
Detection of neutralizing antibodies in the hyperimmune sera by microtitre neutralization tests: The neutralizing antibodies to BTV serotypes [2, 9] and 15 were noticed from day 21 post infection (PI) and continued to increase reaching a maximum by day 45 PI
Summary
Bluetongue (BT) is a non-contagious, arthropod borne viral hemorrhagic disease of ruminants, of sheep and occasionally cattle and some species of deer. It is associated with abortion storms and high mortalities. The disease is reported annually from the south Indian states, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and is causing socioeconomic problems among the sheep farmers. 25th serotype was reported from Kenya (Davies et al, 1992). Of these 21 serotypes have been reported in India (Sreenivasulu et al, 2004). BTV serotype 2 was isolated from native sheep of Chittor district, Andhra Pradesh in 1999 (Sreenivasulu et al.1999)
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