HoBi-like Pestivirus Is Highly Prevalent in Cattle Herds in the Amazon Region (Northern Brazil)

Abstract

Pestiviruses are globally distributed and cause substantial economic losses to the cattle industry. In Brazil, the country with the world’s largest cattle population, pestivirus infections are well described in some regions, such as in the south, where a high frequency of BVDV-2 is described and contrasts with the high prevalence of HoBi-like pestivirus (HoBiPeV) in the northeast. However, there is a lack of information about pestiviruses in the Amazon Region, in northern Brazil, with a cattle population estimated at 55.7 million head, which has a significant impact on the international livestock market. Therefore, this study investigated the seroprevalence and genetic variability of ruminant pestiviruses in 944 bovine serum samples from four states in northern Brazil: Pará (PA), Amapá (AP), Roraima (RR), and Amazonas (AM). Our results showed that 45.4% of the samples were seropositive (19.8% for BVDV-1, 14.1% for BVDV-2, and 20.9% for HoBiPeV). All samples were tested by RT–qPCR, and three were positive and classified as HoBiPeV in a phylogenetic analysis. These serological and molecular results contrast with those from other regions of the world, suggesting that the northern Brazilian states have a high prevalence of all bovine pestiviruses including HoBiPeV.

Pathogenesis and Host Responses to Viral Diseases in Livestock Species

“…Three papers were related to viruses considered part of the bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC), and two of those investigated pestiviruses [2,3]. HoBi-like pestiviruses (HoBiPeV), a recently identified pestivirus in cattle and closely related to bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), was demonstrated to be highly prevalent in cattle herds in Northern Brazil (Amazon region) [3]. The seropositivity to HoBiPeV (20.9%) was comparable to BVDV-1 (19.8%) [3].…”

“…HoBi-like pestiviruses (HoBiPeV), a recently identified pestivirus in cattle and closely related to bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), was demonstrated to be highly prevalent in cattle herds in Northern Brazil (Amazon region) [3]. The seropositivity to HoBiPeV (20.9%) was comparable to BVDV-1 (19.8%) [3]. Another pestivirus study evaluated the effect of the combined use of BVDV-modified live vaccine (MLV) and killed vaccines (KV) in heifers [2].…”