High seroprevalence of bluetongue virus antibodies in goats in southeast Iran

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To describe the seroprevalence rate of bluetongue virus (BTV) in goat flocks in southeast of Iran.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The blood samples were collected randomly from herds of southeast of Iran. A total of 93 sera samples were collected between 2011 and 2012. Antibodies to BTV in sera were detected by using a commercial competitive ELISA 3 according to manufacturer's instructions.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The seroprevalence rates were 67.7% for goats. Within a herd, prevalence of BTV seropositive animals ranged from 33.3% to 100.0%. All goat flocks were positive to BTV antibodies.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>This study describes a high seroprevalence rate of BTV in goat flocks in southeast of Iran for the first time.</p>