Seropositivity of agents causing abortion in local goat breeds in Eastern and South-eastern Anatolia, Turkey

SUMMARY The epidemiological information has not been available on the seroprevalence of agents causing abortion and genital tract infection in indigenous goats of Eastern and South-eastern regions of Turkey, yet. In these regions, the goats have importance for local economy and their production of meat, milk and mohair. There are also differences of the husbandry and climate conditions between two regions. The objective of this study was to describe the seroprevalence and distribution of antibodies to agents causing abortion involving Bluetongue (BT), Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), Border disease virus (BDV), Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV), Toxoplasma gondii, Brucella spp. in two local goat herds in Eastern and South-eastern regions of Turkey. None of the goats from the two herds had detectable antibodies against CAEV, although seropositivity towards BT, BVDV, BDV, Brucellosis and Toxoplasmosis infections were found to be 14.5%, 30.2%, 63.6%, 26.5% and 72.7%, respectively. The abortion cases were found significantly associated with serological status of the herd from the South-eastern region of Turkey.