Detection of Pestivirus in small ruminants in Central Java, Indonesia

Background and Aim: Globally, pestiviruses are among the most economically important viral pathogens of livestock.
The genus Pestivirus comprises four species, including bovine viral diarrhea virus type 1 and 2 (BVDV-1 and BVDV-2), which infect cattle, border disease virus and classical swine fever virus which infect small ruminants and pigs, respectively. Accumulating evidence suggests that pestiviruses are no longer species-specific, creating new challenges for disease control. In Indonesia, investigations related to pestiviruses remain focused on cattle as the primary host and no research has been conducted on small ruminants (sheep and goats). Therefore, the present study aimed to study the possible occurrence of pestivirus (BVDV or BVD) infections in small ruminants in Indonesia, particularly in Central Java.

Materials and Methods: We used 46 blood samples consisting of 26 sheep’s blood and 20 goat’s blood. Samples were
selected from 247 small ruminant blood collected between July and October 2020 in Central Java, Indonesia, which met
the following criteria: Female, local species, approximately 1-2 years old, never been pregnant, raised in the backyard,
and had no close contact with cattle in either shelter or grazing area. We tested plasma samples from sheep and goats
using competitive antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect specific antibodies against pestivirus followed
by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis for all positive samples to differentiate the species of pestivirus.

Results: Two of the 20 samples collected from goats were positive for pestivirus at the serological and molecular levels, whereas 2 of 26 samples collected from sheep were doubtful but tested negative by RT-PCR. The genotyping test results obtained using nested PCR revealed that the positive samples collected from goats had a BVDV-1 genotype.
Conclusion: The results of the present study demonstrated that BVDV-1 can infect species other than bovines, in Central Java, Indonesia. Further studies involving a larger number of samples are required to: (1) Determine the actual seroprevalence of pestiviruses in small ruminants and (2) Determine the potency of small ruminants as reservoirs for pestiviruses, both of which are important for the identification of the appropriate control program for pestiviruses in Indonesia.