Türkiye Kırıkkale Yöresinde Koyunlar Arasında Pestivirüs Enfeksiyonlarının Serolojik ve Moleküler Karakterizasyonu

Border diseases virus causes economical loss in the sheep fl ocks and have high seroprevalence in the world. In the study 1075 samples from 25 sheep fl ocks obtained from Kirikkale and all district in the province of Kirikkale (Turkey) were used. Antibodies against pestivirus detected in 74.51% of 1075 sera samples using ELISA. However, range of seropositivity varied between 8.4% and 100% in the each sheep fl ocks. The correlation between seropositivity and race, age, and gender were investigated. While no relationships between seropositivity and gender and age were detected, a statistically significant correlation was noticed between the race of sheep and positive antibody response to pestivirus (P<0.05). Virus detection studies demonstrated that rate of viremic animals which did not show antibody response against to pestivirus in the sampling time was 4.37%. 5’UTR region of the infecting viruses were amplified through reverse transcription and nested PCR. PCR experiments after which sequencing and phylogenetic analyses were carried out. Accordingly, the viruses infecting the sheep fl ocks were diff erent than BDV from previously reported from Turkey but very close to related to pestivirus type 3.