PREVALENCE OF BOVINE VIRAL DIARRHEA VIRUS AND PERSISTENTLY INFECTED CATTLE IN THE PROVINCE OF ESPINAR, CUSCO

The prevalence of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) was evaluated in 406 cattle of both sexes and older than 6 months. Animals belonged to 114 small farmers from three rural communities of the province of Espinar, Cusco, Peru. Blood samples were collected according to three age groups (6-12, 13-23, >24 months old). Serum samples were tested for antibodies against BVDV using the viral neutralization test. The 56.2 +/- 4.8% (228/406) of samples had antibodies against BVDV. Persistently infected animals were not detected. Antibodies were present in the three age groups, but the highest prevalence (65.4%) was detected in animals older than 24 months of age. The 51.3% (20/39) of young and adult bulls had antibodies against BVDV. Antibodies titers varied from 2 to >256, and high titers (128 to >256) were detected in 42.1% of animals of 13 to >24 months of age. The 86.8% (99/114) of the small farmers had at least one animal seropositive to BVDV.