Prevalence of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis in southern India.

The authors describe a serological survey on the prevalence of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) among cattle and buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in three southern states of India. A local isolate of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) from an outbreak of the respiratory form of IBR was used as a source of virus antigen in avidin-biotin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The overall prevalence of antibodies to BHV-1 in cattle was 50.9%, and in buffalo was 52.5%. Among breeding bulls, 114/120 samples from Tamil Nadu (95%) and 41/99 samples from Karnataka (41.4%) were seropositive. The possible association of IBR with bovine abortions was recorded in 31/56 samples (55.4%) from aborted crossbred cows. However, virus isolation was not performed on these animals. The authors also highlight the economic importance of IBR to the rapidly developing livestock industry in India.