Assessment of role of epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus in abortion in cattle and small ruminants in Türkiye

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) is a vector-borne viral disease of ruminants that can cause significant economic losses due to reduced production and trade restrictions. Furthermore, epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) can cause abortion. However, role of EHDV in abortion in cattle and small ruminants remains uncertain. Therefore, this research aimed to assess the frequency of EHDV in aborted foetuses. In this research, a total of 2029 aborted foetuses (from 553 cattle, 1388 sheep, and 88 goats) were collected from different herds and flocks in the Aegean, Mediterranean and Central Anatolian regions of Türkiye during the period of 2012 and 2017. A real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was used to detect EHDV specific RNA in aborted foetuses. EHDV specific RNA was not detected within aborted foetuses. The results of the study suggest that EHDV does not play a role in abortion in cattle and small ruminants in the studied regions of Türkiye. Further research is needed to determine the role of EHDV in abortion in domestic ruminants.