Aim: Four viral pathogens, bovine viral
diarrhea virus (BVDV), and bovine herpes virus
type 1 (BHV-1), bovine parainfluenza type 3 virus
(PI-3V), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV)
are mainly associated with bovine respiratory
diseases that cause major economic losses in the
dairy cattle industry. This study aimed to
document exposure of cattle in Saudi Arabia to
infectious BVDV, BHV-1, PI-3V and BRSV viruses in
non vaccinated cattle in order to obtain
epidemiolo-gical and immunological information.
Materials and Methods: In the present study,
460 random serum samples obtained from non
vaccinated cattle in five districts (Riyadh,
Eastern Province, Jizan, Najran, Asir) of Saudi
Arabia between January to March 2011. These
samples were tested for presence of antibodies
against BVDV, BHV-1, BRSV and PIV-3 by commercial
indirect ELISA kits.
Results: Our findings
displayed that Seropositivity rates were 26 % for
BVD, 17.4 % for BHV-1, 69.1 % for PI-3V and 75.6 %
for BRSV in the sampled population. In addition,
coinfections with more than one virus were
considerably common among non-vaccinated dairy
cattle.
Conclusion: These results indicate
that exposure to these agents is common within the
study areas. Preventive and control measures
against these infectious agents should therefore
be adopted.
Keywords: BHV-1; BRSV; BVDV;
PI-3V; Saudi Arabia; seroprevalence.
