Serological study of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infection in water buffalo (Bubalusbubalis) in Ahvaz in the southwestern region of Iran

A serological survey was carried out to determine the prevalence rate of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infections in water buffalo (Bubalusbubalis) in Ahvaz, which is the center of the Khouzestan province in Iran. For this purpose, blood samples were taken from 310 slaughtered buffaloes at the abattoir. Sera were tested via the serum neutralization test. Serum neutralization was performed by National Animal Diseases Laboratory (NADL), in order to isolate the genotype 1 strain of bovine viral diarrhea virus. The results indicate that 105 (33.9%) buffaloes had antibodies to BVDV. The prevalence of infection in females and males were 39.5% and 22.78%, respectively, and statistical analysis showed that this difference was significant. Although there was a non-significant difference between heifers and males, the difference between cows and bulls was highly significant.