Bluetongue (BT) is a notifiable multiple species transboundary viral disease of domestic and wild ruminants. Though the disease is enzootic in India, little is known of the disease burden and prevalent serotypes in Tripura, a hilly state of northeastern India sharing a vast porous border with Bangladesh. A surveillance study was conducted to understand the disease burden in goats in Tripura. Serum (n = 1240) and blood (n = 194) samples were collected during the year 2014 to 2017 from all the eight districts of Tripura. The overall prevalence of BT seroconversion was 47.58% whereas the presence of viral antigen was 20.61% at the individual level. Percent seroconversion was found more (50.47 ± 4.00, CI 41.31 to 49.47) in adult goats in comparison to the younger animals where it was 45.39 ± 2.08, CI 42.63 to 58.31. Presence of neutralizing antibodies in selected serum samples (n = 72) was investigated by serum neutralization test (SNT) against six bluetongue virus (BTV) serotypes and BTV-1 was found as most predominant (65.27%) followed by BTV-16 (26.38%), BTV-10 (20.83%), BTV-9 and 23 (13.88%), and BTV-2 (6.94%). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study conducted in Tripura to investigate the presence of BTV antigen and type-specific neutralizing antibodies in apparently healthy goats.
Keywords: Bluetongue; Neutralizing antibodies; Northeast India; Seroprevalence; Tripura.