INCE  Omer Baris, 
    An Investigation of the Seroprevalence of Pestivirus Infection in Goats in Denizli Province of
Turkey,
    Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances,
    Volume 19,Issue 11,
    2020,
    Pages 144-149,
    ISSN 1680-5593,
    javaa.2020.144.149,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=javaa.2020.144.149)
    Abstract: Pestiviruses cause important infections in
ruminants worldwide. Pestivirus infections are
economically important due to their direct effects on
reproduction in the sheep and goat breeding sector.
The pestivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family is
single-stranded, icosahedral symmetrical, membranous
RNA viruses, among which there are also Bovine Viral
Diarrhea Virus (BVDV type 1 and 2), Border Disease
Virus (BDV) and Classical Swine Fever (CSFV) virus.
BDV is the main cause of congenital infections in sheep
and it can cause acute, fetal and persistent infections.
BDV infections are common in countries where BVDV
infections are endemic in cattle worldwide. Clinical
disease is rarely reported in goats. Persistently Infected
(PI) offspring in goats are less common compared to
sheep or cattle. Vertical transmission plays an important
role in the epidemiology of the infection. Serological
studies have demonstrated that natural pestivirus
infections in goats are common in many countries. In this
study, 274 blood samples were collected via. random
sampling from goats in 34 livestock enterprises in
agroecological sub-regions of Denizli Province, since,
there is no sufficient information on the seroprevalence of
pestiviruses in goats in Denizli Province of Turkey. The
samples were centrifuged at 3000 rpm and serum was
obtained. Blood serum was inactivated at 56°C for 30 min
and then stored at -20°C in a deep freezer until being
tested. Serum samples were investigated in terms of the
presence of antibodies by the Serum Neutralization Test
(SNT) using the BVDV reference strain NADL as a virus
strain. The Madin-Darby Bovine Kidney (MDBK) cell
culture was used for testing. The infectious power of
the BVDV-NADL strain was determined as the Tissue
Culture Infective Dose (TCID<sub>50</sub>/0.1 mL) value of 105.
According to the test results, the individual
seroprevalence was 10.58% (29/274) and the flock-based
seroprevalence was 14.71% (5/34). When the
seropositivity rates of the animals were evaluated
according to their sex, 12.85% of the female goats
and 3.12% of the male goats were found to be
antibody-positive. According to the sex of the goats,
the seropositivity rates of the female and male
animals were found to be statistically significant
(&#967;<sup>2</sup>:4.90; p:0.02). A significant difference was found
in terms of age groups (6-24, 24-48 and 48 months<)
(&#967;<sup>2</sup>:11.77; p:0.002). As a result, pestivirus infection
was detected in goats in livestock enterprises in
Denizli Province, although, it was not common.
Therefore, large-scale studies are important for the
economy of the region and the country to prevent the
spread of the infection in question and to determine its
prevalence rates.
    Keywords: Pestivirus;goat;SNT;seroprevalence;Denizli;Turkey