Author(s)

Ravindra Nath Sharma^1*, Sureni Beckford¹, Keshaw Tiwari¹, Elodie Vinet², Derek Thomas³, Claude de Allie³, Alfred Chikweto¹

¹School of Veterinary Medicine, St. George’s University, St. George’s, Grenada.
²Ecole Nationale Vererinaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
³Veterinary Section, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Land and Environment, Grenada.

The aim of the present study was to estimate the seroprevalence of antibodies to bluetongue virus (BTV) among domestic ruminants of Grenada. Sera samples from cattle (133), goat (314) and sheep (481) were tested using competitive Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA). Of the total of 928 samples tested, the overall BTV seroprevalence was 78.4% (95% confidence interval (CI ± 2.65). The seropositivity of ovine, caprine and bovine was found to be 71.7% (95% CI, 67.67% to 75.73%), 80.2% (95% CI, 75.79% to 84.61%) and 98.5% (95% CI, 96.43% to 100.57%), respectively. There was statistical significance in the seroprevalence of BTV among bovine, caprine and ovine (p < 0.05). It is evident from this study that blue tongue virus is endemic in Grenada.

Blue Tongue Virus, c-ELISA, Seroprevalence, Grenada, Ruminants

Nath Sharma, R. , Beckford, S. , Tiwari, K. , Vinet, E. , Thomas, D. , de Allie, C. and Chikweto, A. (2016) Seroprevalence of Bluetongue Virus Antibody in Ruminants from Grenada. Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine, 6, 99-103. doi: 10.4236/ojvm.2016.66013.