ORIGINAL PAPER Survey of Pestivirus infection in wild and domestic ungulates from south-western Italian Alps L. Fernández-Sirera & O. Cabezón & A. Dematteis & L. Rossi & P. G. Meneguz & M. S. Gennero & A. Allepuz & R. Rosell & S. Lavín & I. Marco Received: 21 July 2011 /Revised: 18 October 2011 /Accepted: 27 October 2011 /Published online: 9 November 2011 # Springer-Verlag 2011 Abstract The transmission of pestiviruses between domestic and wild ruminants has not been documented in communal alpine pastures shared between wildlife and livestock. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of domestic and wild ungulates species from Varaita Valley (SW Italian Alps) in the epidemiology of Pestivirus infections. Sera from free- ranging alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) were collected from 1994 to 2009 and 2001 to 2009, respectively. Also, sera from cattle and sheep sampled in 2009 were studied. Sera were tested for the presence of antibodies against pestivirus with an ELISA assay. Sera from positive animals were subsequently tested with a comparative virus neutralisation test using the BVDV- NADL and BDV-137/4 strains. Sera were tested for the presence of pestiviral antigen and the presence of viral RNA with a commercial ELISA assay and RT-PCR. Antibodies against Pestivirus were detected in 132 out of 312 (42%) chamois, in 30 out of 175 (17%) cattle and 6 out of 24 (25%) sheep. No antibodies were found in roe deer. No Pestivirus antigen or RNA was detected in any of the samples. Results indicate circulation of pestiviruses among the studied chamois, cattle and sheep populations. However the role of wild ungulates in the dynamics of Pestivirus infection is still unknown and monitoring the presence of these viruses in wild ungulates would be of importance, especially in the chamois population, where pestiviruses seem to circulate extensively. Keywords Pestivirus . Chamois . Roe deer . Cattle . Sheep Introduction Pestiviruses (family Flaviviridae) are single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses, which have the ability to cross species barriers and to infect a wide range of artiodactyls. Thus, bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) and border disease virus (BDV) are not strictly host specific and antibodies against these viruses have been reported in several species of domestic and wild ruminants (Nettleton and Entrican 1995; Loken 1995; Nettleton et al. 1998). Pestiviruses have also been isolated from different artiodactyls such as camelids Communicated by C. Gortázar L. Fernández-Sirera (*) : O. Cabezón : S. Lavín : I. Marco Servei d’Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain e-mail: laura@montx.com L. Fernández-Sirera : O. Cabezón : A. Allepuz : R. Rosell Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA). Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain A. Dematteis : P. G. Meneguz Centro Ricerche Gestione Fauna Selvatica (CERIGEFAS), Università degli Studi di Torino, Sampeyre, Cuneo, Italy L. Rossi : P. G. Meneguz Dipartimento di Produzioni Animali, Epidemiologia ed Ecologia, Università degli Studi di Torino, Grugliasco, Italy M. S. Gennero Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale di Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Turin, Italy R. Rosell Departament d’Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca, Alimentació I Medi Natural, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain Eur J Wildl Res (2012) 58:425–431 DOI 10.1007/s10344-011-0591-1