Sero-epidemioloical survey on African horse sickness virus among horses in Khartoum State, Central Sudan

• Published in: BMC veterinary research Vol. 14; no. 1; p. 230
• Main Authors: Karamalla, Siham T, Gubran, Ahmed I, Adam, Ibrahim A, Abdalla, Tamadur M, Sinada, Reem O, Haroun, Eltahir M, Aradaib, Imadeldin E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 01.08.2018; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: African horse sickness; African Horse Sickness - epidemiology; African Horse Sickness - etiology; African Horse Sickness - virology; African Horse Sickness Virus; AHSV; Animals; Antibodies, Bacterial - immunology; Antigens; Disease; Distribution; Double-stranded RNA; ELISA; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - veterinary; Enzymes; Epidemiology; equines; Female; Health aspects; Health risks; Hemorrhage; Horses; Horses - virology; Immunoglobulin G; Immunoglobulin G - immunology; Immunoglobulins; Infections; Male; Pest outbreaks; Polymerase chain reaction; Prevalence; Reoviridae; Reoviruses; Risk Factors; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Sudan; Sudan - epidemiology; Surveillance; Survey; Surveys and Questionnaires; Veterinary research; Viral infections; Viruses; Sudan; Ethiopia; Survey; AHSV; Epidemiology; Sudan; equines; ELISA
• ISSN: 1746-6148; 1746-6148
• DOI: 10.1186/s12917-018-1554-5

African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is an infectious non contagious insect-transmitted double-stranded (ds) RNA orbivirus of the family Reoviridae. AHSV causes an often fatal hemorrhagic infection with high mortality among selected breeds of Arabian horses. This study was conducted to avail some information with regard to the prevalence and associated risk factors of AHSV among ecotype breeds of horses in central Sudan. Sera were collected from 320 horses, which were selected randomly from four localities and employed in the study. A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was used to screen sampled sera for AHSV-specific immunoglobulin G (Ig G) antibodies. Seropositivity to AHSV Ig G was detected in 275 out of the 320 horse sera, thus accounting for a prevalence rate of 85.9%. Potential risk factors to AHSV infection were reported to be associated with horse breed (OR = 5.0, CI = 0.07-2.104, p-value = 0.039) and activity of the horse (OR = 3.21, CI = 0.72-1.48, p- value = 0.008). The high prevalence of AHSV in Khartoum State of Central Sudan necessitates the need for continuous surveillance for AHSV infection to prevent a possible disease outbreak in this region of the African continent.