Seroprevalence of bluetongue in small ruminants in selected Districts of south western Ethiopia

Abstract

Bluetongue (BT) is an infectious, non- contagious disease of ruminants transmitted by Culicoides biting midges and the causative agent is a member of the genus Orbivirus in the family Reoviridae. A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence and associated risk factors of bluetongue infection in small ruminants in the selected districts of South Western Ethiopia: between December 2015 to August 2016. A simple random sampling technique was used to select sheep and goats for serum sample collection. A total of 422 small ruminants serum samples were examined using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) test, 129 (30.6%) at 95% CI (26.2 - 35) of them were found to be seropositive to bluetongue virus. Multivariate analysis indicated that statistically significant in goats (AOR = 2.4, 95% CI (1.538 – 3.91), P = 0.001), adult (AOR= 3.1, 95% CI (1.909 – 5.148), P = 0.001), lowland (AOR = 3.1, 95% CI (1.525 – 6.476), P =0.002) and midland (AOR =2.4, 95% CI (1.320 – 4.319), P = 0.004). Also statistically significant in Bedele (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI (1.213 – 4.340), P = 0.011) were significantly influences the occurrence of bluetongue virus infection in present study districts. Sex and body condition have no statistically significant difference with the seroprevalence of bluetongue virus (P > 0.05). From this study it is concluded that the bluetongue antibodies virus presence in the sheep and goats in all examined districts which indicate serological evidence of exposure to infection was widely distributed all over the study area. These results clearly show the occurrence of the BTV that emphasize the necessity to a well-defined control strategy for preventing and controlling in South Western Ethiopia.