Detection of Border disease virus in fetuses, stillbirths, and newborn lambs from natural and experimental infections.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antigen detection in blood or fetal fluids and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification in tissues for routine laboratory diagnosis of Border disease virus (BDV) infection. Samples from 67 fetuses, 6 stillbirths, and 11 lambs from 25 commercial flocks with suspicion of BDV abortion and 3 fetuses, 7 stillbirths, and 15 lambs obtained from an experimental infection with a local isolate (BDV genotype 4) were investigated. Presence of BDV was detected by RT-PCR in 7.9% of fetuses, 50% of stillbirths, and 50% of lambs from the commercial flocks analyzed, corresponding to 8 of the 25 farms (32%). A similar percentage of the lambs and stillbirths from the experimental infection were positive by RT-PCR of tissue samples (54.5%), and the highest positivity was detected in lymph node, thyroid gland, and kidney. The current study revealed that RT-PCR analysis of stillbirths and lambs with clinical symptoms is more suitable than the analysis of fetuses to confirm the presence of BDV in a flock. Pestiviral antigen was detected by antigen ELISA in a high proportion of fetuses (24/58) and stillbirths (3/4) from commercial flocks, but in lambs, the presence of colostral antibodies masked the detection of the antigen by ELISA. Nevertheless, in lambs from the experimental infection that were not fed colostrum, antigen ELISA was less efficient than RT-PCR in detecting viral presence in stillbirths and lambs. Antigen ELISA is therefore recommended for fetuses with advanced autolysis that can adversely affect RNA integrity.