Seroprevalence of Bluetongue virus in domestic yaks (Bos grunniens) in Tibetan regions of China based on circulating antibodies.

The bluetongue (BT) is an infectious, non-contagious disease of ruminants with a substantial impact on income and welfare of animals. To date, scarce information about this disease in domestic yaks is available in Tibetan area of China. Seroprevalence of circulating antibodies to Bluetongue virus (BTV) in yaks from three regions of Tibet and Hongyuan area of Sichuan Province in China was investigated by a commercial competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. A total of 736 blood samples were collected during the year 2012 and 2013, and nearly 2% serum samples were found positive for BTV antibodies in Hongyuan area during the year 2012, and 4.89 and 3.88% of samples showed positive results for BTV in Tibetan and Hongyuan area, respectively, in 2013. The results indicated the occurrence of BT infection in Chinese yaks for the first time in Tibet and Hongyuan area of Sichuan Province with the presence of BTV antibodies in these ruminants.