Seroprevalence of contagious ecthyma in goats of Assam: An analysis by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

AIM The objective of this study was to screen the prevalence of contagious ecthyma (CE) among the goat population of Assam owing to its high prevalence rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, a total of 231 serum samples were collected from 12 districts of Assam during September 2013 to July 2014. The serum samples were tested for the presence of antibodies against Orf virus (ORFV) by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Indirect ELISA was standardized using purified Orf reference virus produced in bulk in primary lamb testes cells. RESULTS Studies on seroprevalence showed 76.62% of goats were seropositive. The total number of animals were divided into different age groups starting from 0-2 months, 2-4 months, 4-6 months, and above 8 months and accordingly highest prevalence of antibodies against ORFV was recorded in the age-group above 8 months of age. Significantly, lower rates of infection were observed in goats of age group 2-4 months. This study recorded that seropositivity from naturally infected animals and in contact apparently healthy animals to be 53.67% and 46.32%, respectively. CONCLUSION The results indicated that CE is a prevalent infection in goats of Assam, and the healthy population is at increased risk of infection.