{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.022328548644338118, 'fraction_numerical': 0.014885699096225412, 'mean_word_length': 4.862928348909658, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
SEROLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR STUDIES ON BTV IN SMALL RUMINANTS AT RISK AREA IN EGYPT POST- BT OUTBREAK IN LIBYA

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is one of the most pressing trans-boundary viral diseases that cause worldwide great loss in the bovine industry either directly or indirectly worldwide. The current study was conducted to clarify the infection status of BTV at Marsa-Matruh (The West border with Libya) which is considered a high risk spot and an entrance gate for diseases in Egypt. Retrospective study on blue tongue outbreaks worldwide were carried out and the data were collected from the OIE website for pointing out the risky spots for blue tongue that may serve as a gateway of the disease to Egypt. Small ruminants in the Marsa-Matruh province were investigated in this study (n = 555; 398 sheep and 157 goats; aged between 6 ms to 3 years old) during a period from June to October 2017. Both serum and whole blood samples were collected, for detection of BTV antibodies and antigen using ELISA, while, BTV RNA was extracted from the whole blood samples for the detection of viral RNA. The results of retrospective study revealed the disease was absent in Egypt while it was reported in the border countries including Libya and in Palestinian during 2016. Moreover, serological examination demonstrated BTV specific antibodies at 54.5% and 30.5% for sheep and for goats, with an overall prevalence of 47.7 %. However, all serum samples tested negative for detection of bluetongue (BT) antigen. Further, RT-PCR confirmed the molecular findings showed that all blood samples tested negative for BT antigen. Since the BTV is capable of crossing Egypt borders through Libya, specially quarantine measures are mandatory at Marsa-Matruh province with careful animal screening for the evidence of infection/carrier status using suitable serological technique prior to importation.