Serological surveillance of bluetongue virus in cattle, sheep and goats in Albania.
The recent spread of the bluetongue (BT) virus (BTV) in the Mediterranean Basin encouraged numerous countries to undertake entomological and serological surveillance programmes to identify affected areas and control the infection. Hitherto, no data on the presence and diffusion of BTV in Albania were available. Between October and November 2002 serum samples from 857 cattle and 870 sheep and goats were collected by the Albanian Veterinary Services in 15 districts, some bordering Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Greece, and others along the Adriatic coast. At the Albanian Veterinary Research Institute the samples were tested for the presence of BTV antibodies using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) (bluetongue antibody test kit, IZS A&M, Teramo); in Italy, the virus neutralisation (VN) test was used to confirm the ELISA results and determine the serotype of BTV circulating. Overall seroprevalence was 18.9% in cattle and 4.4% in sheep and goats; seropositive animals occurred in all districts surveyed. The highest prevalence of BT was observed in the Tirana District, with 61% of the cattle and 20% of the sheep and goat populations BT-positive. The VN test confirmed the c-ELISA results revealing the presence of antibodies against BTV serotype 9.
Di Ventura
M
M
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise G. Caporale, Via Campo Boario, Teramo, Italy.
Tittarelli
M
M
Semproni
G
G
Bonfini
B
B
Savini
G
G
Conte
A
A
Lika
A
A