NUE MARKU, KRISTAQ BËRXHOLI, JETON SPAHIU, KURTESH SHERIFI, AGIM REXHEPI
Agricultural University of Tirana, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kodër Kamëz, Albania
Food and Veterinary Agency, 10000, Prishtina, Kosovo
University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina”, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary, Bill Clinton str. 10000, Kosovo
*Corresponding author email: nue.marku@hotmail.com
Abstract
The objective of this study was to describe the seroprevalence of bluetongue virus (BTV) in domestic ruminants in few municipalities in Kosovo. Bluetongue is an economically important disease caused by Orbivirus of the Reoviridae family. The outbreaks of diseases in sheep causing severe with typical clinical sign and economical loses and occasionally in cattle occurred in our country. Virus is transmitted between its mammalian hosts by certain species of biting midges (Culicoides spp.). A total of 322 blood samples were collected from 101 ruminant flocks (sheep, cattle and goat) in 27 villages, in four municipalities (Istog, Klinë, Malishevë, Rahovec). Sera were tested with competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (C-ELISA). The results showed 9.0% of all sera were positive for BTV antibodies. The highest prevalence of antibodies in serum were in municipality of Rahovec 19.26%, followed by Malishevë 9.58% and Istog 1.10%, and no positive samples were in Klinë. High prevalence of BTV antibodies in cattle serum samples emphasize that disease has an important role in domestic ruminants, primarily in sheep, causing economic losses in these regions, and probably throughout Kosovo.
Key Words: Bluetongue, c-ELISA, Kosovo, Seroprevalence, Ruminants
