A serological survey of antibodies against bovine herpesvirus-1 in yak (Poephagus grunniens) in Arunachal Pradesh in India

Abstract

Serum samples were collected from 254 yak (Poephagus grunniens, presently Bos grunniens) in different yak tracts of India. These samples were then screened by virus neutralisation test (VNT) and avidin-biotin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (AB-ELISA) to study the seroprevalence of antibodies against bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1). The overall seroprevalence in yak was found to be 41% (105) by VNT and AB-ELISA. The sex of the animal, whether it was on a farm or free-ranging and the location of the different yak tracts did not seem to have any effect on seroprevalence. However, seroprevalence was found to increase with the age of the animals, being highest in yak older than three years of age (49%). Yak generally share feeding, watering and grazing areas with other domestic and wild animals and this common ecological niche is thought to be a possible avenue of infection. This is the first time that the seroprevalence of antibodies against BHV-1 has been studied in yak in India.

Bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) – a re-emerging concern in livestock: a revisit to its biology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and prophylaxis

“…The overall seroprevalence in yak was found to be 41% by virus neutralization test (VNT) and avidin-biotin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (AB-ELISA). The virus was also detected in the ocular swab of yaks suffering from infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (Bandyopadhyay et al 2009;Bandyopadhyay et al 2010a). The origin and geographic distribution of BHV-5 infection is largely unknown mainly due to its serological cross-reactivity with BHV-1 (Vogel et al 2002).…”

“…Countries like Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland are officially free of IBR (Ackermann & Engels 2005). Like other countries, India was also affected by this disease as the virus was detected in many parts of the country, like Kerala (Sulochana et al 1982), Gujarat (Singh et al 1983), Tamil Nadu (Manickam & Mohan 1987), Orissa, Arunachal Pradesh (Bandyopadhyay et al 2009), Nagaland (Rajkhowa et al 2004), and Karnataka (Mohan Kumar et al 1994). Given a grave concern regarding exotic bovine species like mithun and yak, the association with BHV was determined.…”

“…This reactivation from latency was also recorded in yaks following extreme stress like prolonged transportation in the mountainous tracts and severe nutritional deprivation as seen in harsh winter season (Bandyopadhyay et al 2007). Interestingly, deficiency of important trace minerals like zinc and copper which are directly associated with intracellular oxidant/antioxidant defence mechanism and immune status was recorded to have higher correlation with BHV-1 infection in yaks as evidenced by higher seropositivity (Bandyopadhyay et al 2007;Bandyopadhyay et al 2009;Bandyopadhyay et al 2010b). During reactivation from latency, three significant events occur: 1) productive viral gene expression is readily detected in sensory neurons, 2) both the ORF-E and LR gene expression decrease dramatically, and 3) infective virus is secreted from nasal or ocular swabs (Jones 1998(Jones , 2003Jones et al 2006).…”

“…The same is true for rare bovine species like the yak and mithun. The yak (Bos grunniens) is a bovine species of high economic importance, living in the hills and snowbound areas at 3000-5000 m above the mean sea level in China, Mongolia, Bhutan, Nepal, Russia, and India (Weiner et al 1994;Bandyopadhyay et al 2009). They are mostly reared for milk, meat, and wool.…”

Prevalence, diagnosis, management and control of important diseases of ruminants with special reference to indian scenario

“…In general in India, the prevalence rate of disease was 34% with differing prevalence rates in various parts of the nation includes 39% north-eastern, 37% northern, 25% central, 24% western and 17% eastern (Selvaraj et al, 2008;Bandyopadhyay et al, 2009a;Sarmah et al, 2015). In a recent report, 18% seropositivity was reported in bovine serum samples in Tripura (Majumder et al, 2013a).…”