Bluetongue Disease

A viral disease known as bluetongue (BT) can afflict ruminants, both domestic and wild. It is dispersed by arthropods, particularly species of Culicoides. The disease is brought on by the BT virus (BTV), which belongs to the genus Orbivirus and family Reoviridae. This review covers the etiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, transmission, clinical signs, diagnosis, and management of the disease. BTV infection causes large direct economic losses because of high morbidity, mortality, stillbirths, abortions, fetal abnormalities, low birth weight in young animals, decreased milk yield and fertility rate, weight loss, early culling, and losses of meat and fleece. Fever (105-106° F), serous to bloody nasal discharge, mucopurulent discharge later on, hyperemia and edema of the lips, face, tongue, ears, and submaxillary region (looking like a monkey face), oral erosions and ulcers, and in rare cases, cyanosis of the tongue are the most common clinical symptoms. The disease is diagnosed using either immune response detection or pathogen identification. The OIE recommends four serodiagnosis tests: CFT, AGID, competitive, and indirect ELISA. Vaccines that are inactivated pose a lower risk than those that are live attenuated. Because there are so many BTV serotypes and susceptible hosts, controlling BTV is very difficult.