AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE www.arccjournals.com/www.ijaronline.in *Corresponding author’s e-mail: volkankara1980@hotmail.com 1 University of Kafkas, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Virology, Kars, Turkey. 2 University of Kafkas, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Kars, Turkey. Seroprevalence of Bovine Herpes Virus 1 (BoHV-1) in breeding bulls in Northeastern Anatolian Region of Turkey Volkan Yilmaz* 1 , Nuvit Coskun 1 , Ozgur Celebi 2 and Fatih Buyuk 2 University of Kafkas, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Virology, Kars, Turkey. Received: 10-05-2016 Accepted: 17-11-2016 DOI: 10.18805/ijar.v0iOF.9144 ABSTRACT Bovine herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1) is well recognized as a pathogen that infects the respiratory and reproductive tracts. This study is a serological investigation of BoHV-1 in breeding bulls at 1–5 years of age from small scale family operations in three Northeastern Anatolian provinces (Kars, Ardahan and Igdir) in Turkey. For this purpose, blood was collected from 250 breeding bulls and was tested for antibodies against BoHV-1 using the virus neutralization technique. Out of 250 blood sera samples tested, 110 (44.00%) were detected as positive against to BoHV-1 and antibody titres were found to be varied between 1/2- 1/64. Among the controlled regions, the highest seroprevalance of BoHV-1 infection was found in Kars (64.81%) followed by Ardahan (30.00%) and Igdir (26.82%) provinces. The results suggested that the infection was spreading in breeding bulls in small scale family operations. This study is the first serological study to determine seroprevalence of BoHV-1 infection in breeding bulls in North-eastern Anatolia region. Key words: BoHV-1, Breeding bulls, Seroprevalence, Virus neutralization technique. BoHV-1 (Bovine herpes virus 1) infections cause major economic losses in animal operations due to weight- loss, reduced milk production, infertility disorders, embryonic and fetal deaths, abortion, and respiratory and nervous system disorders in young animals (Raaperi et al., 2010). BoHV-1 is classified in the Varicellovirus genus in the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae of the family Herpesviridae. The BoHV-1 virion is enveloped, has a diameter of 150-200 nm and an icosahedral capsid consisting of 162 capsomers. It has a 136 kbp, linear double-stranded infectious genome with at least 65 genes. There are three sub-types of BHV-1. Subtypes 1 and 2a cause respiratory symptoms and abortions. Subtype 2b results in Infectious Pustular Vulvovaginitis/Infectious Pustular Balanoposthitis (IPV-IPB) characterized by genital lesions (Muylkens et al., 2007). Subtype 3 causes encephalitis. Like other Herpesviruses, BHV-1 can remain latent by entering the trigeminal and sacral ganglions after the primary infection (Roizman et al., 1992). Latent virus can be reactivated by different stressful conditions such as infections, corticosteroid applications or transportation (Muylkens et al., 2007). Various laboratory techniques such as virus isolation in cell culture, electron microscope, dot blot hybridization, immunoperoxidase, immunofluorescent antibody, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), serum neutralization have been used for the serological and virological diagnosis of BoHV-1. (Mahmoud and Ahmed 2009; Parreno et al., 2010; Raaperi et al., 2010; Holz et al., 2010). The aim of this study was to survey serum samples obtained from breeding bulls in three provinces in North- eastern Anatolia for the presence antibodies against BoHV- 1. The data that was obtained showed that the percentage of seropositive bulls in small scale family farms needs to be evaluated as an epidemiological indicator. Furthermore, sanitary programs for preventing and controlling the BoHV- 1 infection may be based on vaccination programs and control of animal movement (entrance of contraband animals or transfers between operations or from other countries via importation) Clinical samples: This study took random blood samples from 250 unvaccinated, healthy-looking breeding bulls between the ages of 1-5 found in small-scale family operations in three Northern Anatolia provinces in Turkey (Kars, Ardahan and Igdir) that in the past had raised animals that had respiratory problems, metritis, mastitis, spontaneous abortion and failed to conceive (Fig.1). Blood samples were collected directly into blood tubes with silicon and centrifuged at 1500 g for 10 minutes to separate the serum. Before testing the serum in virus neutralisation test, serum samples were heat-inactivated at 56°C for 30 min. This research was conducted after the approval of Kafkas Indian J. Anim. Res., 52(2) 2018 : 319-322 Print ISSN:0367-6722 / Online ISSN:0976-0555